Man found shot in head

A YOUNG man was in a serious condition yesterday after being shot in the head and dumped out of a car.

Gardaí are working on a number of theories and said that the youth may have been shot following an accidental discharge of the firearm.

“He may have been accidentally shot. That is one of the lines of inquiry,” said one officer. “He may have been shot when handing the gun from one person to another.”

The man was dumped out of a car on to a street in Chapelizod, west Dublin.

He was found at around 10pm last Thursday on St Laurence’s Grove.

Gardaí believe there was at least one other person, the driver, in the car.

The injured man is from Drimnagh in south Dublin and has been named locally.

The youth was shot in the back of the head. After he was found in the street, the man was brought by ambulance to St James’s Hospital in a serious condition.

“He continues to be in a serious, but stable, condition,” said a garda spokeswoman yesterday.

She said the car, which didn’t have its lights on at Chapelizod, was driven away by a man described as 5 foot 10 inches in height and heavy set.

The man was wearing a light coloured tracksuit top and bottoms as well as a baseball cap. The car, a dark Honda Civic, was later recovered intact by gardaí.

Forensic experts will examine the car for any fingerprints or fibres which might give further clues behind the identity of the driver.

Ballistic examinations will also be carried out.

Gardaí have asked anyone with information to contact Ballyfermot Garda Station at 01-6667200.

The shooting bears some resemblance to the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old in west Dublin in July 2003.

Victor Murphy, from Finglas, accidentally shot himself in the head while in a car and was dumped by fellow passengers on the roadside in the area.