Fleeing gunman shoots himself in foot after blasting cyclist

Detectives were last night questioning a man who shot a cyclist before shooting himself in the foot as he attempted to escape.

The 31-year-old, who was also on a bicycle, accidently shot himself after he opened fire on a 52-year-old career criminal during morning rush hour in north Dublin.

The victim, from nearby Ballymun, received a gunshot wound to his stomach and fell from his bicycle onto the footpath along Glasnevin Avenue.

The shooting occurred at 8.15am outside a row of houses a short time before schoolchildren were due to make their way to nearby schools.

Gardaí said there were plenty of motorists and passengers on the busy road at that time, along with pedestrians, and are asking anyone who witnessed the shooting to come forward.

The attacker was fleeing the scene when the gun discharged accidentally and he shot himself in the foot.

He was escaping down a laneway between Glasnevin Avenue and Glasnevin Park at the time. Gardaí received a 999 call at 8.20am to the shooting on Glasnevin Avenue, where they found a man on the ground. Emergency services attended to his injuries before removing him to the Mater Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. A short time later, gardaí received a phone call in relation to a man with gunshot injuries at Hillcrest Park, behind Glasnevin Avenue. They found a man, from Finglas, at the scene. He was taken to Beaumont Hospital.

A Garda spokesman said the attack victim was in a “serious condition” and they were liaising with his medical team.

Gardaí sealed off a number of areas and gathered forensic evidence from the scenes. A shotgun was recovered in the area and will undergo DNA and fingerprint analysis, as well as ballistic tests.

The intended victim is known to gardaí as a long-term criminal, involved in crime in the Ballymun and Finglas areas.

He has several previous convictions for threatening to kill, reckless endangerment, possession of a knife, drugs, criminal damage, and public order.

Meanwhile, gardaí in Clondalkin in south-west Dublin are continuing to investigate the weekend gangland murder of a 21-year-old man.

Dean Johnson was shot repeatedly in the head and face as he walked to his home on Greenfort Lawns, Neilstown, at 12.20am on Saturday.

Detectives are investigating several lines of inquiry, including whether the murder was connected to a violent row between the victim along with a friend and a group of other youths in Tallaght on Friday.

Mr Johnson’s family say he was the shot in a case of mistaken identity.