A SEARCH was underway in Co Tipperary and surrounding counties last night after an elderly farmer died when a number of gunmen, who had broken into his home, shot him in the leg.
The shooting happened in a farmhouse in Stephenstown, Rosegreen, Cashel. A number of masked men, believed to have been armed with sawn off shotguns, broke into the home at around 8 p.m. and tied up the man along with his wife and daughter.
The deceased man was named as Mr Daniel Fanning (74), a farmer and cattle dealer. He was in his home with his wife, Biddy, and one of his daughters, when the men broke into his house.
Mr Fanning was tied up and held in the kitchen, while his wife and daughter were held in another room. When his wife and daughter managed to free themselves, at around 9.30 p.m., they found Mr Fanning dead in the kitchen.
The raiders had cut the telephone lines so the man's daughter had to go to a neighbour's house to raise the alarm.
The men escaped in their own vehicle but also took the daughter's car, which they abandoned nearby.
Gardai had last night set up roadblocks and a widespread search was underway. A green, Dublin registered car, possibly a Fiat Punto, was spotted near Rosegreen, and may have been used by the killers.
Gardai last night said they had not established a motive for the raid or the shooting, but had not ruled out robbery.
Gardai were unsure as to how many men had been involved.
Stephenstown is on a quiet road outside Rosegreen, which is a small village on the main Cashel to Clonmel road. The village was more busy than usual last night, as a drugs awareness meeting was being held in the National School.
"It's an awful shock. The community will be in awful shock," said Mrs Jerimiah Lanigan, who lives in Stephenstown. "Around the county it's very frightening now. It would make you very upset."
She described Stephenstown as a country area, but not isolated. There were a number of houses around, she said.
"The way things are going you're not safe anywhere," said a man in Rosegreen.
The Garda station at Cashel closes at 5 p.m., but a patrol car is always in the area, a garda said last night.
The State Pathologist, Dr Harbison, is due to visit the murder scene today.
