Firearm found after burglary and shooting at farm

Gardaí have recovered a legally held firearm following a shooting and suspected burglary at a farm in Swords, Co Dublin, yesterday.

A 34-year-old man was last night being treated at Our Lady Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda for gunshot injuries to his arm.

The shooting took place at about 3.30pm at the Maryland farm in Kilsalla-ghan when a man, believed to be the farmowner’s son, was checking on the property and noticed it had been burgled. It is understood the owner of the farm was on holidays and his house was unoccupied at the time of the suspected burglary.

The son saw a silver Lexus take off down the side of the farm but it got stuck in the fields and words were exchanged between the driver and the farmer’s son.

A BMW X5 then arrived and the driver of the Lexus got in. However, a shot was fired as the two men drove off. The scene was preserved yesterday and the legally held firearm and a silver Lexus were forensically examined.

RTÉ said a number of people had spoken to them claiming to be the shooting victim and his family. They said he was shot while trying to flee the scene and had been in the house earlier with the retired farmer.

The shooting victim told RTÉ he had been in the house earlier and drank tea with the retired farmer, who called a taxi to bring him and his mother back to Finglas. He said he came back to the house to thank the retired farmer for his kindness after his van had broken down in the area.

Meanwhile, gardaí in Terenure investigating the armed robbery of a cash-in-transit van in Dublin last week, have arrested two men in their 40s following searches in the west of the city. Over €12,000 in cash, believed to be covered in dye, was also recovered during searches of two houses in Crumlin.