A Waterford couple and their four-month-old daughter escaped injury when a shot was fired through their front door yesterday.
Gardai are following "a definite line of inquiry" into the attack in the Clonard Park estate in Ballybeg at 12.45 a.m.
At least two men, with a shotgun, were involved. The house was occupied by a member of the residents' association, Mr Barry Morrissey, his wife and daughter.
The attack was viewed by residents as an escalation of an intimidation campaign by local criminals. Almost a quarter of the estate's residents have applied to Waterford Corporation for transfers.
A Workers' Party councillor, Mr John Halligan, said residents were warned at 5 p.m. on Wednesday by youths that they would return that night with weapons. "They shot through the front door and left a hole as a big as a fist. Pellets were found in the kitchen. It's just lucky nobody was killed and I don't think these guys would have cared," he said.
Residents who spoke out against gangs were being victimised. "It has now got to the stage where people are threatening to take the law into their own hands. That's what they are telling me today because they don't know who's going to be next," he said.
Insp Tom Duggan said a number of house-searches were carried out. "We have a number of suspects in mind and we believe certain people are harbouring some of these suspects," he said.
He asked people in the area who knew the identity of the perpetrators to co-operate with the investigation. Anyone with information can contact Waterford Garda station at 051874888 or the Garda confidential line, 1800 666111.
