Gardaí probe Sligo man's gun murder

Gardaí were today continuing to investigate the murder of a 39-year-old man who was gunned down close to his Sligo home.

David Lynch, of Collery Drive, Cranmore, was shot shortly after midnight yesterday.

A 12-year-old boy who was with Mr Lynch suffered superficial gunshot wounds, while a 44-year-old man sustained minor injuries.

Both are expected to make a full recovery. The attack happened as the group were getting out of a van close to Mr Lynch’s house.

He was taken to Sligo General Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Gardaí have appealed for anyone in the area who witnessed the attack to come forward.

It is the first gun murder of 2008 and comes just months after the killing of Sligo man Tom Ward.

The 23-year-old died last August after a suspected axe blow to the back of his head outside his parents’ home in the Cranmore estate.

Mr Ward was set upon just minutes after he had dropped off his pregnant wife at their home, not far from his parents’ house at Joe McDonnell Drive.

Chief Superintendent Kieran Kenny, who is heading the murder inquiry, said they were investigating all angles but so far there was nothing to connect Mr Lynch’s death with other murders in the area in recent years.