Gardaí are trying to establish a motive for the murder of a man in his 60s at his home in west Dublin last night.
The 64-year-old victim has been named locally as Eddie Nugent, a married man with adult children.
He had been involved in the waste removal business and also worked as a truck driver though is not believed to have been working in recent years due to a number of health problems.
0 of 4
Mr Nugent was at his home on Harty Avenue, Walkinstown, when he went to answer a call at the door just before 9.30pm.
He was confronted by at least one gunman on the doorstep.
The killer opened fire, wounding Mr Nugent and causing extensive damage to the front door and windows around it, with bullet holes clearly visible at the property after the shooting.
The victim was wounded in the chest and as the killer ran to a waiting car which drove off at speed, members of Mr Nugent’s family who were at home at the time called the emergency services.
The wounded man was treated by paramedics at the scene and was then taken to St James’s Hospital by ambulance.
However, efforts to save him failed and he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at the hospital.
His murder was the first gun killing of the year and follows a sustained period in which gun crime has been falling since rates peaked in the 2007-2008 period.
In some parts of the country, including west Dublin, gun crime has halved during that period.
Mr Nugent was not a career criminal and gardai were unaware of any threat to his life or any recent arguments or feuds he had become involved in.
He had been investigated as part of a criminal inquiry some years ago; though no criminal charges were pressed.
Gardaí are now trying to establish if anything had happened in his personal life to make him a target for the men who attacked him last night.
Detectives are also examining his past in an effort to assess if any historical issue may have flared of late and been the reason why he was gunned down last night.
The Nugent family home was sealed off immediately gardai arrived on the scene after the shooting. It was preserved as a crime scene overnight.
Members of the Garda Technical Bureau are carrying out an examination of the property today.
Gardaí are also conducting house to house inquiries in a effort to establish if any local people witnessed the attack or may have seen the killers in the area before or after the murder.
A car found burnt out late last night on nearby John McCormack Avenue is believed to be the getaway vehicle.
It was unclear if it was completely destroyed by fire or if it may yield forensic evidence that might link suspects to the killing.
The area where the car was found was also sealed off last night and is undergoing a technical examination today.
Gardaí have appealed for anyone who was in the Walkinstown or Crumlin areas between 9pm and 10pm who may be able to help the inquiry to contact them in confidence.
The murder investigation is being run from Crumlin garda station.
