GARDAÍ ARE investigating whether the wounding of two security guards in a hospital shooting could be linked to an earlier altercation and the arrest of a man at the hospital.
The double shooting took place in the grounds of St James’s Hospital in Dublin’s south inner city at about 4.30am yesterday.
The guards were carrying out a foot patrol in the grounds of the hospital campus near the Rialto exit when they were shot.
Gardaí believe two attackers were involved and it appears both were armed and masked. The security guards are foreign nationals.
One of the guards suffered a shoulder wound while his colleague was shot in the arm. The men were taken to the accident and emergency department at the hospital and remained under medical care throughout yesterday.
The men’s injuries are not life threatening. It is understood both underwent surgery. Gardaí believe they were sprayed with pellets, probably from a shotgun.
“It’s a strange one because it happened away from any of the buildings at the hospital, it’s not as if somebody went in and singled out a specific person to shoot,” said one Garda source.
The masked men are believed to have escaped the scene on foot via the Rialto exit.
Gardaí have begun a criminal investigation but are still trying to determine the motive for the attack.
Sources said there were regularly public order incidents in AE departments of hospitals and recent incidents at St James’s would be studied to determine if yesterday morning’s incident is linked to any recent altercation.
In one recent incident at St James’s gardaí were called and arrested a man. This public order incident is being studied closely to determine if the shooting of the security guards is in any way linked to it.
However, Garda sources said a possible link between the two events is just one line of inquiry.
Sources said it was also possible the two masked and armed men were planning a robbery or shooting before they were disturbed by the security guards.
Following the attack the scene of the shooting was examined by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.
CCTV footage recorded by cameras at the hospital was also being studied.
Gardaí will interview all security personnel at St James’s in an effort to determine if any of the recent public order incidents brought staff into conflict with members of the public that might have led to the shooting.
Services to patients continued as normal yesterday.
Siptu, the union which represents the men, described the shooting as deplorable and appealed to the public to assist the Garda’s investigation.