Gardai believe the shooting of a man in his 20s in Limerick city on Monday night was the outcome of a row which broke out at the weekend between the persons involved.
The man who is believed to have fired off three rounds with a legally-held shotgun, which killed one person and injured two others, is married. He had been held at Roxboro Garda station for questioning under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act since Monday night.
He was released last night without charge, and a file is being sent to the DPP.
Neighbours said the family lived quietly on the housing estate at Prospect, in the south of the city.
Apart from a few children playing in the late evening sunshine, there were few witnesses to the shooting at 9.20 p.m. on Monday. Three casually dressed men, apparently armed with a hammer and knife, called to the terraced house of the man who is being questioned about the shots.
Two of the men were hit by gunshot blasts outside the house. Neighbours emerged from their homes to see a critically injured man lying on the footpath.
He was pronounced dead on arrival at Limerick Regional Hospital and was named yesterday as Mr Billy Power (29), of Collins Avenue, Kincora Park, Southill. He was well known locally as a soccer player with Hill Celtic.
A second man was seriously injured and was put on a ventilator in intensive care until his condition stabilised. He received surgery and was described as "still very ill" yesterday.
The third man's injuries were less serious and his condition is "comfortable". He was questioned by detectives yesterday.
Investigating officers say the incident followed an argument at the weekend.
A section of road at Byrne Avenue was sealed off from traffic on Monday night until the arrival of Garda Technical Bureau members yesterday. They carried out a forensic examination on two separate scenes which had been preserved under plastic.
The State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, also examined the scene before carrying out a post-mortem on the body at the hospital morgue.
Gardai recovered the shotgun after the man who used it voluntarily gave himself up. They also found a hammer and a knife at the scene.
The Fine Gael justice spokesman, Mr Jim Higgins, called on the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, to meet the Garda Commissioner and devise an initiative to curb what he described as "the upward spiral of violence and murder this year so far".
A series of violent incidents in Limerick in recent months has resulted in one man being hospitalised after being attacked with a sword, a teenager being injured in the leg after being shot with a handgun outside a fast-food restaurant and a prison officer being slashed with a makeshift knife after being attacked by three inmates of Limerick Prison. The three have all received extended prison sentences.
Two people are also being held on remand on separate charges relating to two murders committed in Limerick city since January .
The Mid-Western Health Board has advised that a professional staff member would be available to offer advice and support to families of children who may have witnessed the shooting, or been affected by it.