Slain passenger begged gunman for mercy, say witnesses
The deceased was one of two passengers in the taxi which had pulled up outside a house in Dundalk, where it is believed the gunman had been lying in wait.
He was armed with a shotgun and opened fire on the taxi, killing James Hughes, aged 35, from Crossmaglen.
One of the theories being followed by gardaí is that both men had been involved with a 21-year-old woman who was in the front seat of the taxi. However, it is believed she may simply have been friends with the deceased.
It is understood the woman had previously been in a long-term relationship with the gunman.
Gardaí do not believe Mr Hughes had any link to gangland crime, drugs or subversives.
As the taxi pulled up just before 4am, it was approached by the armed man, who fired several times into the vehicle, a Fiat Scudo, shattering its windows.
Both the woman and the taxi driver were struck by pellets from the shotgun and were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.
They suffered facial and neck injuries and are expected to be discharged in the coming days. Mr Hughes’s family were too distraught to speak at the scene of the shooting, Cluain Ard, Lis na Dara, an upmarket estate on the outskirts of Dundalk.
Neighbours were deeply shocked at the violence on their doorstep. One man, who did not want to be identified, said he heard the man plead for his life.
“I was literally in the house about two minutes and heard what I thought was fireworks.
“There was a pause and then a bit of screaming and the guy (was) shouting, ‘Please don’t kill me,’ and then there was another shot.”
His wife had seen some of what took place and was, he said, “in bits”.
Another neighbour said she and her mother had heard three shots.
“I saw the man with the gun running away; he hit the car three times, the glass broke (in the taxi),” the woman said.
She said she heard the woman in the taxi calling to the gunman. “She knew who the man was; she was in shock.”
She added: “It was a big, massive black gun, not a small one.”
It later emerged that a 32-year-old man had driven to Carrickmacross Garda Station where he was arrested. He remained in custody last night.
The remains of the deceased were removed to Tallaght hospital where a post-mortem examination was carried out.
