The girlfriend of Shane Geoghegan heard shots outside their house moments after he texted to say he’d be home in a minute.
Jenna Barry was giving evidence at the Central Criminal Court in the trial of a 24-year-old Dublin man charged with murdering the rugby player.
Barry Doyle, with addresses at Portland Row, Dublin; and Hyde Road, Limerick, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Geoghegan on November 9th, 2008.
Mr Geoghegan was shot dead in a suspected case of mistaken identity across the road from his home in Clonmore, Kilteragh, Dooradoyle.
Ms Barry said she last saw the 28-year-old Garryowen captain about two hours earlier in a friend's house a two-minute walk from their home. She left him there and visited his mother before returning home.
"I texted him to see was he coming home just before 1am. He said he was on his way. He'd be home in a minute," she testified today.
"I heard a series of loud bangs. I heard two outside the house," she continued. "It sounded like fireworks to me. It was around Hallowe'en."
However when the couple's two dogs didn't stop barking and seemed 'unusually tense', she looked out the front door onto the cul-de-sac.
"I saw someone run towards a car," she recalled, confirming that the engine of this space wagon was running and the sliding door was open. "The wheels were screeching and someone was shouting 'Drive'."
She said she saw a young, hooded man get into the car. She then dialled 999 and reported the incident.
"I texted Shane. I told him: 'I think there's been a shooting'" she added.
A neighbour gave evidence of looking out his back window that night after hearing what sounded like gunshots and screaming.
"I first heard two that sounded like gunshots, then a person screaming. It sounded like he was in pain," said Rebabonye Pharithe.
"The first two (shots) were very close to each other," he explained. "I looked out the window and saw a people carrier car parked in the cul-de-sac."
He said that after the scream, he heard four or five more shots.
"The car in the cul-de-sac switched on the lights after I heard the first two shots," he continued, adding that it sped off after the rest of the shots were fired.
He said that he and his wife looked out their front window as the car sped past to see if they could identify the number plate.
"We couldn't. It was moving too fast," he said. He dialled 999.
Several witnesses gave evidence of seeing a navy Renault Espace parked outside Ballycummin Village apartments in the week or weeks before the killing. Many had noticed it because it was badly parked.
One resident of the block, Barbara Valtiniova, said she saw two hooded people approach it on the evening before the killing. She heard it start after two attempts. Minutes later it was gone.
A ballistics expert from the Garda Technical Bureau identified the three bullets taken from Mr Geoghegan's body during the post-mortem examination.
"This is a 9mm calibre discharged bullet and lead core from the head," said Detective Garda Mark Collender, giving similar identifications for the two other bullets recovered.
He also showed the jury the rounds of 9mm calibre ammunition found at the scene.
He located two un-discharged or live rounds of ammunition near Ms Barry's car.
"These rounds had been ejected manually," he said, explaining that these still had their bullets in the cartridge cases. "The most likely way this happens is if there is some sort of a stoppage or malfunction with the weapon. You dispose of this round and try again with another round."
He also found eight discharged cartridge cases at the scene.
These were discovered on the road and around the house across the cul-de-sac, where Mr Geoghegan's body was found. Most were beside the body.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul Carney and is expected to last up to four weeks.