A man has been arrested after barricading himself into a house in north Co Dublin following a knife attack in which another man died.
The 55-year-old victim and the arrested man were well known to each other and the motive for the fatal attack at around 6pm in Skerries this evening was unknown.
The dead man was found fatally wounded in his own home at Mourne Park, Skerries, when gardaí went there after receiving calls of a serious disturbance at the house.
When gardaí from Balbriggan arrived at the scene the suspect, a local man in his 20s, had left the house where the killing took place.
gardaí quickly established the suspect had gone to another house close by and had barricaded himself in.
He initially refused to surrender himself so he could be spoken to by gardaí. However, after a brief stand-off he came out of the house where he had been hiding and was immediately arrested.
The suspect was detained under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and has been taken to Ballymun garda station for questioning.
Both the victim and the suspect are from the area and have known each other for many years but were not related.
The victim was dead in his house when gardaí arrived and his body was tonight still at the scene. The area has been sealed off pending the arrival of a pathologist who was due to carry out a preliminary examination of the remains in the house before their removal for a full post mortem.
The property where the killing occurred is also due to undergo a full scale forensic examination by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.
A number of local people who are believed to have heard noise coming from the house at the time of the killing have been spoken to by gardaí at the scene.
gardaí said while the investigation is currently being treated as a suspicious death, they expect the inquiry to be upgraded to a murder probe when the results of the post mortem become available, most likely tomorrow.
The dead man’s name and personal details ate being withheld until all family members have been informed of his death.
The killing this evening follows an unrelated knife in Firhouse, south Dublin, this morning. A 22-year-old man underwent surgery after being slashed with sword during a house party. He is recovering in St James’ Hospital and while he is seriously injured he is expected to survive.
