Murder hunt begins into gangland shooting

Gardaí have begun a murder hunt following the death a 24-year-old man in a gangland-style shooting in inner city Dublin.

The man was walking down Military Road in Kilmainham, close to the Irish Museum of Modern Art, at around 12.20am when he was shot by two men travelling in a black BMW car.

The man fled down the road towards Murray’s Bar on Bow Bridge and collapsed in front of the pub from his bullet wounds.

A crowd of shocked neighbours gathered around him, as the Garda helicopter hovered overhead.

He was taken to the nearby St James’s Hospital and was pronounced dead in the early hours of the morning.

The men in the BMW car escaped by driving up Military Road in the direction of Heuston Station.

They are believed to be involved in the drugs trade in Dublin.

One local man, who was leaving his house on Bow Street West for work, said he was in bed when the shooting happened. “I just heard four gunshots,” he said.

A Garda spokeswoman said the exact number of shots would not be known until the forensic examination had been completed.

One of the shots blew a hole in a window of a flat on Bow Street.

Gardaí cordoned off the area around Kilmainham Lane, Bow Lane and Military Road.

Groups of German and British tourists were given directions by gardaí for alternative routes to the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

The investigation into the death of the 24-year-old, who was known to gardaí, is being headed up by Superintendent Eddie Quirke of Kevin Street Garda Station.

He has appealed for witnesses in the Bow Street West and Military Street area to come forward.

Detectives were today carrying out house-to-house investigations while the scene was being forensically examined by the Garda Technical Bureau.

A post-mortem exam on the body of the man, whose name has not been released, is to be carried out today at St James’s Hospital.