Gardaí have appealed for witnesses in their investigation into the murder of a man in Sligo early this morning, in a shooting which also injured a 12-year-old boy and another man.
The incident happened shortly after midnight at Collery Drive, Cranmore, Sligo.
Chief Supt Kieran Kenny
Gardaí said the man (39), was taken to Sligo General Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was named by gardaí this afternoon as David Lynch of Collery Drive, Sligo.
A 12-year-old boy and a 44-year-old man were also injured and both were taken to Sligo General Hospital.
A spokeswoman for the hospital said the 44-year old man has been discharged while the boy remains in a stable condition.
Chief Superintendent Kieran Kenny, who is leading the murder inquiry, said there up to 30 gardaí are working on the investigation and he apppealed for witnesses to come forward.
"He would be Sligo born and raised. As far as I'm aware he has been a native of Sligo for all or most of his life," he said of Mr Lynch.
"I'm appealing to anyone who may have been in the Cranmore, Collery Drive area on Friday night between midnight and 1am that might have any information about what happened up there to contact us here in the incident room at Sligo."
Chief Supt Kenny said gardaí were called to the scene after reports of gun fire.
The 12-year-old had been with the 39-year-old man when the shooting happened and the boy received superficial gun shot wounds, Chief Supt Kenny said.
"We're satisfied that person will make a full recovery," Chief Supt Kenny said.
"The 12-year-old was in the company of the deceased. They were involved in an activity that there's nothing sinister in," he said.
It is understood the pair are not related and the boy was also from the area.
Former Sligo councillor Tommy Cummins, who lives within 100 yards of the scene of the crime, said he heard four to five shots.
Former councillor Tommy Cummins
"At approximately 12.05am, I heard what I thought was fireworks. I heard four to five shots, there was a slight pause and then there was another shot," he said.
"At that stage I heard screams and roars and so knew that it wasn't fireworks. At about 12.10am I walked up the road and looked down at the scene. The victim was lying on the ground and quite obviously at that point he wasn't in good shape. The neighbours were all around at that stage, maybe 30 to 40 people.
"At that point the gardai arrived and then immediately after that the ambulance," Mr Cummins said.
Mr Cummins said the shooting was a shock to the local community, coming just months after the killing of Sligo man Tom Ward.
The 23-year-old died last August after a suspected axe blow to the back of his head outside his parents' home in the Cranmore estate.
Mr Ward was set upon just minutes after he had dropped off his pregnant wife at their own home not far from his parents' house at Joe McDonnell Drive.
"It's a relatively tight community here in Cranmore. It's something we didn't think would ever happen again," Mr Cummins said.
"This has come as a grave shock to everybody, more especially to the people concerned, their families and the neighbours in Collery Drive," he said.
"The involvement of a 12-year old in such tragic circumstances must be taken into consideration. Things have gone to a despicable level when a 12-year-old boy can be shot."
Mr Cummins said the boy would have been around 50 yards from his house when the incident occurred.
Cranmore is the largest public housing estate in the north west, with a population of more than 2,500.
Mr Lynch's killing is the first gun murder in Ireland this year. A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out this evening at Sligo General Hospital.
The scene at Collery Drive has been preserved for technical examination and the State Pathologist has also been notified.
PA