A MURDER inquiry began last night following the shooting dead of a 42-year-old man in what gardaí believe may be a drugs-related incident in Cork city.
Detectives opened the investigation after Gerard “Topper” Stanton was shot by a lone gunman as he went to get into his car outside his rented house on West Lawn on Sarsfield Road in Wilton. It is believed Mr Stanton was shot at least once in the chest by a man with a shotgun who then fled in a waiting van which sped off along Sarsfield Road on Cork’s southside.
It is understood Mr Stanton was accompanied by his partner at the time and she wasn’t injured in the shooting. She immediately contacted the emergency services.
Mr Stanton was taken by ambulance to nearby Cork University Hospital but he died a short time afterwards. Originally from Kilkieran Close in Hollyhill on Cork’s northside, Mr Stanton had been living in the rented house at West Lawn with his partner for a number of months.
The scene of the shooting was cordoned off and Garda technical experts last night began a forensic examination.
Gardaí also contacted the State Pathologist’s office and a postmortem was expected to be carried out on Mr Stanton’s remains today.
A van found burned-out over two miles away in Waterfall was last night being forensically examined by Garda technical experts.
Gardaí are already investigating several gun murders this month.
The body of John Paul Joyce (30), from Coolock in Dublin, was found in a ditch near Dublin airport on Saturday, January 10th. He had been shot in the head.
The following day, Brendan Molyneux (46) and Paddy Mooney (58) were shot dead in Mr Mooney’s local authority flat off Pearse Street in Dublin.
Last Saturday night, Noel Deans (27), from Coolock, Dublin, was shot dead after leaving a pub in the area.