A MURDER investigation has begun following the shooting dead of a man in what appears to have been a well-planned ambush on a quiet rural road.
Gardaí are investigating if the killing near Waterloo village in Co Cork is linked to feuding between criminal factions from Cork.
The deceased has been named locally as Packie Hogan (42) from Rathpeacon, about 6km (four miles) north of Cork city.
Detectives believe the gunman had clear knowledge of the victim’s movements and planned the ambush to shoot Mr Hogan, rather than the man he was with.
The investigating team are trying to establish if the killing is linked to a Travellers feud. Mr Hogan, a married man with children, was a settled Traveller.
Three men were arrested last night in connection with the murder and are being detained at Gurranabraher and Mayfield Garda stations.
The victim was driving his van, accompanied by a passenger, between the villages of Birch Hill and Waterloo – near Blarney – yesterday at about 4pm when he came upon a car parked across the road about 1½ miles from Waterloo.
Mr Hogan’s way was blocked by a VW Golf parked across the road and his vehicle was forced to a halt. A man wearing a balaclava and carrying a handgun then appeared on the scene.
Gardaí believe the gunman, who had at least one accomplice, was hiding in undergrowth waiting for Mr Hogan.
When the victim and his passenger got out of the van and tried to flee, the gunman appeared to single out Mr Hogan, firing a number of shots in two bursts.
The passenger in the van with Mr Hogan ran into a field and across a nearby river. When he heard the gunfire stop and the killer and his accomplice driving off he ran back to the road.
He found Mr Hogan dead on the road. Garda sources said the fatal shot appeared to be to the deceased’s upper body.
The masked gunman and his accomplice drove off in the VW Golf that was blocking the road and also took Mr Hogan’s VW Transporter van.
The car was later found at Gurth, about four miles from the crime scene.
The van was found at Garrycloyne graveyard about 3km from the scene of the shooting.
Both vehicles were undergoing forensic examinations last night.
Mr Hogan’s body was still at the crime scene last night. Garda sources said a pathologist would not be available until this morning because of their heavy workload following the air crash at Cork Airport, which necessitated six postmortems.
A pathologist was expected to carry out a preliminary examination of Mr Hogan’s remains at the scene this morning before his body is taken away for a postmortem.
