A garda was in a stable condition in hospital last night after being shot in the stomach in Dublin city centre yesterday morning.
The 34-year-old officer named as Paul Sherlock was on motorcycle patrol when he stopped two men travelling in a stolen car in the North Strand area shortly after 9am.
As the car came to a halt on Ossory Road, one of the men got out and shot the uniformed garda once, injuring him in the stomach.
The men then drove towards West Road and abandoned the car - a silver Nissan Almera hatchback - at St Barnabas Gardens before fleeing in a white van.
A Garda spokesman said the possibility that the men were on their way to carry out a robbery yesterday morning was "one line of inquiry" being pursued.
A major Garda operation was put in place within minutes of the shooting. The scene of the attack was sealed off as investigating and forensic officers carried out fingertip searches of the surrounding area.
Ossory Road as well as Alfie Byrne Road and parts of North Strand were closed and gardaí set up a checkpoint at the East Link bridge.
The Garda helicopter was also deployed in an attempt to track the van used by the attackers.
The victim, who is married with two young children, was brought to the Mater hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life threatening.
Chief Supt Michael Feehan of Fitzgibbon Street Garda station, who is leading the investigation, said the shooting was being treated as a "very serious incident", while Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy and Deputy Commissioner Fachtna Murphy were among more than 50 officers who attended a case conference at Fitzgibbon Street station at midday.
The Nissan Almera, with the registration 02-D-68111, had been stolen last May and was reportedly spotted by its owner in the city yesterday morning. At least one of the two occupants wore a fluorescent jacket.
Gardaí appealed for public assistance with the investigation. Anyone who was in the North Strand/Ossory Road area between 6am and 9am is asked to contact the incident room at Fitzgibbon Street station on (01) 666 8454, while officers also wish to speak to those who were in the West Road/East Wall areas during the morning.
Supt Feehan said gardaí were also seeking help in finding out where the Nissan Almera had been kept since it was stolen last May. Its number plates are understood not to have been changed since it was reported stolen.
The Garda Representative Association described the shooting of the unarmed garda as a "callous, cowardly and despicable" act.
Association president John Egan said: "This incident illustrates the increasing level of gun crime in our towns and cities and the inherent dangers to our members and the public.
"The shooting is a callous, cowardly and despicable act carried out by people who have no respect for human life."