GARDAÍ BELIEVE the two chief suspects for the murder of 16-year-old Melanie McCarthy McNamara on Tuesday have gone on the run but have not been able to leave the jurisdiction.
The men are still in the Republic but are believed to have been moved between a number of locations in efforts to evade arrest.
Gardaí have put ports and airports on alert in the event the men try to leave the country.
The investigating team believe they have identified the men on CCTV and have also gathered forensic evidence from their getaway car, the murder weapon and the gloves, scarf and balaclava believed to have been used by them during the attack.
The men abandoned their vehicle and discarded the items in Citywest, Dublin, on Tuesday night just minutes after shooting the teenager dead as she sat in a car on Brookview Way in nearby Tallaght.
Gardaí believe another person in the car with Ms McCarthy McNamara was the gunman’s target. However, the killer aimed into the back window rather than the front passenger seat window and shot the wrong person.
The gunman and his accomplice then seemed to panic and abandoned the car and other items without any effort to burn them and destroy forensic evidence.
They were also caught on good-quality CCTV when they abandoned their stolen Santa Fe 4X4.
Gardaí believe the intended target of last Tuesday night’s shooting had been involved in local feuding with another faction in Tallaght and that the attempt to shoot him was linked to that.
The dead girl’s family are originally from Limerick and are members of the Traveller community. They settled in Tallaght about six years ago. The family also have a large network of relatives in England.
It is not yet known when Ms McCarthy McNamara’s remains will be released for burial or where she will be buried.