Gardaí say a man who was killed following an altercation with a gang that had carried out two hijackings in Dundalk on Tuesday night was "in the wrong place at the wrong time".
He was named locally as Aidan Myers, (37) with addresses in Faughart and Coxes Demesne, Dundalk, Co Louth.
The investigation into his death was upgraded by gardaí last night to a murder inquiry after a postmortem was carried out on Mr Myers's body.
The result of the postmortem was withheld "for operational reasons".
Mr Myers's death appeared to be the culmination of a series of crimes in Dundalk which began late on Tuesday and left one man in hospital and another with a serious arm injury.
The gang of four men, who were travelling in a Northern registered dark blue BMW, first tried to steal a car from outside the home of its owner on Mary Street North, a quiet residential area close to the town's inner relief road.
It was near 11pm when the owner heard noises outside and went to investigate. He was attacked with a machete and needed 45 stitches to his arm.
A member of the gang stole the man's 1994-registered white Mazda car, but crashed it on the street a few minutes later and abandoned it.
Within minutes, the BMW and its occupants were seen, also on Mary Street, by a mother who was travelling in a Mitsubishi people carrier. She became alarmed and got out of the people carrier and told her son to get out.
One of the men then got into the people carrier and both it and the BMW were driven towards Faughart, which is adjacent to the Border.
The woman was said to be very distressed but she and her son were unharmed.
Within minutes, the Mitsubishi is believed to have been used to rear-ram an Opel Astra car that Mr Myers and his companion were travelling in.
Supt Jim Sheridan of Dundalk said gardaí were satisfied "some confrontation" took place after the ramming.
When gardaí and the ambulance service arrived at the scene a short time later they found Mr Myers lying on the roadside beside his friend's car.
His friend, who is 41 and from the local area, was also injured.
Mr Myers was taken to Louth County Hospital in Dundalk where he died at 4am yesterday; his friend remained in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda with a head injury.
Speaking to reporters yesterday afternoon, Supt Sheridan said he did not believe the ramming was pre-planned.
"The occupants of the Astra happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Sometime later, as part of a follow-up operation, gardaí came across the BMW and a white Escort van travelling in convoy north of Dundalk and gave pursuit.
The van, which had been stolen in Bessbrook, Co Armagh, between 12.30am and 1am yesterday, drove towards the Border at Faughart.
This brought it past the scene of the earlier crime and to make its escape it rammed a Garda van which was in situ and part of the operation to preserve the crime scene.
The van, registration MAZ 2406, was found just south of the Border near Jonesboro shortly after 5pm yesterday.
The Mitsubishi, registration number 00 LH 895, was found by the PSNI in Newry.
"We are working very closely with the PSNI," said Supt Sheridan. He said the gang members were believed to be in their 20s and one spoke with a Dublin accent.
This is the third incident involving vehicle hijackings in the Dundalk area in recent months. In relation to the first one, prosecutions resulted in a number of people being convicted.
Others face charges in the courts in Northern Ireland in relation to the second.