A man was still being questioned on Monday after six horses and two dogs were shot dead in North Cork on Sunday morning.
Armed gardaí ave arrested the man about the shootings at two farms of a relative in the early hours of Sunday.
The man (32) turned up at his uncle-in-law's farm at the Island, Newmarket, around 2am in an intoxicated state looking to speak to his cousin but was told he wasn't there and to go home.
About an hour later, the farmer, a man in his 70s, was awoken by the sound of gunshots and went out to discover that his dog had been shot dead. He then notified gardaí in Kanturk.
Gardaí arrived at the scene and discovered the man had crashed a car while leaving the scene but was still at large and they called for backup from the armed Regional Support Unit.
Gardaí called to the home of a friend of the gunman in Rockchapel only to discover he too was missing but he later called to Kanturk Garda Station and was questioned about the gunman.
Gardaí got a description of the car the man was driving, a black Toyoto Corolla, and began a search operation across North Cork for the armed man.
They found the car crashed near a house at an isolated location at Knockacummer in Meelin area, north of Newmarket, and armed members of the support unit surrounded the house around 1pm.
Members of the unit searched the car and recovered a legally held shotgun before proceeding to the house where the man surrendered to the armed officers and he was taken into garda custody.
