Gardaí were last night searching for a gang who fired shots during an armed raid on a petrol station in the village of Monard in Co Tipperary early yesterday.
A senior Garda officer said it was lucky someone wasn't shot dead in the incident.
The owner of the petrol station and shop, Pat Toomey, arrived home to Monard from his pub in the nearby village of Solohead at around 12.20am when he was set upon by three armed men wearing balaclavas.
Mr Toomey, his wife, Mary, and their two teenage daughters were terrorised inside the house by the raiders who were armed with a sawn-off shotgun, a rifle and a pistol.
Mr Toomey was struck over the head by one of the raiders with the sawn-off shotgun, which then discharged accidentally.
After gardaí in Tipperary received a 999 call, one armed garda and two unarmed uniformed gardaí rushed to the scene. An unarmed garda who was posted to the rear of the dwelling spotted Mr Toomey lying in a pool of blood inside.
As the raiders fled through the rear door, one fired two shots from the handgun in close proximity to one of the unarmed gardaí giving chase.
"There wasn't even a warning given before they fired. We could have been dealing with fatalities here today. It's very serious that all three raiders were armed," said Insp Paschal Feeney.
They got away with what gardaí described as "a substantial sum" of money.
The Garda Air Support Unit with special thermal-imaging equipment was deployed, but there was no sign of the men who had escaped through the back garden and into nearby fields.
At 10.30am yesterday gardaí found a balaclava and some of the stolen money in a plastic bag in a nearby field. Insp Feeney said it was hoped that forensic tests on these items would help identify the men.
He said it was "a very worrying trend" that shots were fired in close proximity to an unarmed garda.
Mr Toomey sustained a gash to the head and was admitted to Our Lady's Hospital in Cashel for treatment, but was later discharged.
Gardaí said the raid was well planned. They believe that a white Ford Sierra or Ford Cosworth car may have been used and that a fourth man may have been waiting in a getaway car.
They are anxious to speak to anyone who may have seen a car fitting that description, or to anyone who saw anything suspicious in Monard in the hour leading up to the incident.
Acting Chief Supt for the Tipperary Division, Tony Cogan, said it was "a terrible ordeal for the family".