Gardaí in Dundalk say they are keeping an open mind on the shooting of a young man from the town in the early hours of yesterday morning.
The 27-year-old was left bleeding on the side of a mountain in the Cooley Peninsula by his assailant and had to walk nearly half a mile to the nearest house.
He arrived covered in blood after being blasted with a shotgun. The pellets caused serious injuries to his hands and chest.
Gardaí would say only that they knew the man but they had no motive for what happened and their investigations were continuing.
He raised the alarm by walking from a wooded area at Corakit near Omeath - a short distance from the Border - to the first house he could find.
The alarm was raised and he was taken to the Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda and later transferred to St. James's in Dublin where his injuries were said to be not life-threatening.
The man is a native of Dundalk and had been living in the large Muirhevnamore estate which has been the scene of a number of so-called punishment beatings in recent years.