Two men were being questioned last night after a man was shot in the head outside a busy row of shops in a south Dublin suburb and dumped from a car by his attackers in the middle of the afternoon.
The attack, which has all the hallmarks of a gangland assassination attempt, took place on Lakelands Road, Stillorgan, just after 3pm.
Shocked locals rushed to the victim's aid and tried to stem the flow of blood from his head wounds until the emergency services arrived. He was taken by ambulance to St Vincent's hospital just after 3.30pm. His condition was described as critical, but stable, last night.
The victim is a 24-year-old man with an address on Monasterboice Road, Crumlin. Two men from Walkinstown were arrested after the shooting and were being questioned at Tallaght Garda station last night. They are both in their early 20s.
A VW Golf in which the wounded man was shot was found partially burned out at Dargle Wood, Knocklyon. A gun and a quantity of cannabis were recovered from the vehicle.
Gardaí flooded into the area to look for the two occupants of the car. They were picked up a short time later on foot in Firhouse by members of the Tallaght drugs unit after the Garda helicopter was called in to assist in the search for them.
Detectives believe the shooting may be related to a localised feud in Crumlin. Reliable Garda sources said the two people under arrest last night are minor figures in the drugs trade. "They are just kids, way down the scale of dealing," said one source.
The incident unfolded on Lakelands Road, when a VW Golf with three men inside pulled up outside the entrance to the shops nearest to Lakelands Drive.
The victim was shot at least twice inside the car.
Witnesses saw the other two occupants struggling to pull him from the vehicle. However, when they realised they were being watched they sped from the scene, dumping the wounded man just yards away at the entrance to the Lakelands estate, at the junction of Kilmacud Road.
Des Delaney, who owns the butcher's near where the shooting took place, said he ran to the door after hearing two shots from outside. "I heard one shot . . . there was a gap of just a couple of seconds and then there was another shot," he said.
He saw a struggle ensue as the gunmen tried to push the injured man out of the car before speeding him off and dumping him.
Mr Delaney said the man was holding his head and was covered in blood. "He was a youngish chap. He was lying face down on the ground and there was blood everywhere. He was breathing, he was still alive even when the ambulance came."
Concerned locals were still waiting at the entrance of the estate yesterday evening as members of the fire brigade washed blood from the road where the man was dumped.
The shooting is believed to have been witnessed by a large number of people. Some of the businesses have CCTV systems which are believed to have recorded the attack.