GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the wounding of a man in a gun attack are investigating if his work collecting second-hand clothing door-to-door is in any way linked to the incident.
The victim, who is in his late 40s and is from Lithuania, was shot in Artane, north Dublin, at 6am yesterday. He sustained wounds to his leg and arm in the attack in the Maryfield Wood estate.
The man, who has been in Ireland for a number of years with his partner and children, was taken by ambulance to nearby Beaumont Hospital. Garda sources said his condition is not life threatening.
Gardaí believe the man works at distributing bags to houses throughout Dublin appealing for householders to fill them with second-hand clothes.
In many similar operations the clothes are exported for sale abroad, mostly in eastern Europe.
The trade in Dublin has proven very lucrative in recent years. Gardaí are now trying to assess if the man shot in Artane was targeted by a rival group engaged in the same activity.
However, Garda sources said they have not ruled out other motives. It is understood yesterday’s victim was not known to gardaí, who are hopeful they will have more information when they interview him at length.
In a second gun attack, a 24-year-old woman was injured in Tullamore, Co Offaly, at 11.30pm on Wednesday when a shotgun was fired at the living-room window of her home in the Kilbrook estate. Gardaí arrested a male suspect in his 20s at about 2am close to the scene. A woman in her 20s was arrested in Tullamore at 8am. Gardaí are investigating if the shooting was linked to three other gun attacks on houses in the town in the past fortnight.
In an unrelated incident, gardaí have arrested two people after a handgun, silencer and ammunition were found during a house search in the Wheatfield area of Clondalkin in west Dublin.