Gardai in west Dublin are searching for three men after the murder of a young man in the Tallaght area. Mr Kevin Fennell (23) was shot dead after two masked men called to his home in Drumcairn Park and asked his partner for him by name.
The men rushed past her to the kitchen at the back of the house, where Mr Fennell was dozing on a couch, and shot him three or four times.
"There were no words at all," said Chief Supt Noel Smith, who is leading the investigation. "It was very cold-blooded. He died almost instantly."
Mr Fennell was taken by ambulance to Tallaght Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 3 a.m.
The men escaped in a red Nissan Primera, which was driven by an accomplice. The car was found burnt out about half a mile away at Kilcarrig Crescent.
It had been stolen in Ballsbridge, Dublin, on June 16th and fitted with false registration plates, 93 D 10667.
Gardai say they are keeping on open mind on the motive for the killing. Mr Fennell was known to be involved in "less serious crime" such as theft, said Chief Supt Smith. "We have no evidence that he was involved in drug-dealing."
It is understood Mr Fennell had a number of minor convictions.
His brother John was shot and seriously injured in Tallaght last July. He is now in a wheelchair. Mr Fennell's partner and a man who was in the house at the time were being interviewed by gardai yesterday.
Their information was described as "very vague" by Chief Supt Smith. Two children were in an upstairs room at the time of the murder. Gardai carried out house-to-house inquiries in the area yesterday.
A post-mortem was carried out yesterday afternoon by the State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison. This is the fifth fatal shooting in Dublin this year, and the second in the Tallaght area.
Another local man, Mr Thomas Reilly, was shot on his way to work in March in a killing that gardai believe was drug related.
Two men have been shot in the Mulhuddart area, again, gardai believe, as a result of disputes between criminals, and a 53-year-old Finglas man was shot at his home in January following an argument with local criminals.
