Gardaí believe more than 20 shots were fired by a gunman using an automatic weapon at a car carrying two Dublin drug dealers and three female associates on the M50 in the early hours of yesterday morning, writes Conor Lally.
The attack, linked to a drugs feud, took place when four masked occupants of one car repeatedly opened fire on a second vehicle as both cars sped down a five-kilometre stretch of the State's busiest road just after 4am.
As part of the follow-up investigation the northbound carriageway of the M50 was closed for about four hours from 2pm yesterday, from the Cookstown exit to the Lucan exit. Gardaí carried out a technical examination of the scene.
The shooting was the latest in a series of high profile gun attacks in Dublin in recent weeks, prompting renewed criticism of the Government. Fine Gael spokesman on justice Jim O'Keeffe said the shooting represented further proof that gangland crime was "out of control".
Labour justice spokesman Joe Costello said the situation regarding armed crime in Dublin was "reminiscent of gang warfare in east Los Angeles".
The two drug dealers in the car targeted were wearing bullet-proof vests. They had spent Saturday night in the Spawell pub, Templeogue, where they had just met the three women. They all left in a Lexus car owned by one of the men.
They travelled towards the main roundabout in Tallaght and then drove on the northbound carriageway of the M50. Before they reached the Ballymount exit, an Opel Astra pulled up alongside carrying four men wearing balaclavas.
At least one of the men was armed and opened fire on the car. The driver of the Lexus accelerated but the Astra pulled up alongside a number of times with shots being discharged each time. The high-speed chase and gunfire continued up the motorway before both vehicles took the Palmerstown exit on to the N4. The Lexus had been hit up to 16 times at this stage.
The driver of the vehicle sped into the forecourt of a petrol station near the Foxhunter pub and the two men and three women demanded to be let into the locked shop. The Astra then left the scene. A number of eyewitnesses had called the gardaí who arrived within minutes.
One of the men sustained a number of minor wounds to his elbow and torso. This man is a 24-year-old known drug dealer from Finglas. He was the victim of a gun attack close to his home last Saturday week in which he was shot in the stomach. He was treated in James Connolly Memorial Hospital, Blanchardstown, but discharged himself after a short period. He has refused to co-operate with gardaí.
The other man, the owner of the Lexus, is aged 21, from Clondalkin and involved in the drugs trade.