Gardaí investigating the eighth gangland-style murder in the State in two months were last night questioning three men in connection with the killing.
Tony Creed (36) was shot dead in the bedroom of his home in Westbourne Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin, at around 1.15am yesterday.
Three of his four children, all aged under 11, were at home. It is believed one of them witnessed most of the attack.
Detectives are keeping an open mind on the motive, and believe Mr Creed may have been targeted because of his links to the drugs trade, or because he recently became involved in a personal dispute with other men from Clondalkin.
He was a drug dealer and a drug user, and was a suspect in a number of burglaries in the Clondalkin area during which money was stolen.
Gardaí believe the dispute he became involved in may be linked to that break-in.
They also believe Mr Creed and his partner were involved in an on-street altercation in Clondalkin with a number of men in recent weeks.
The three men held last night were arrested yesterday afternoon in Clondalkin. They are aged 18, 20 and 25. They were all being detained at Clondalkin Garda station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
They can be held without charge for 72 hours. While carrying out the arrests, gardai seized some €10,000 worth of heroin.
Mr Creed had been selling drugs from his house, with drug users calling to his door. He had been living in the house for around six months.
Mr Creed came out to the landing when he head noise downstairs to see what was happening. When he saw the gunman coming up the stairs towards him, he ran back into the bedroom.
However, according to Supt Eddie Finucane, who is leading the inquiry, Mr Creed's attacker followed him, first firing a shot from a sawn-off shotgun through the bedroom door which wounded the victim.
He then went into the room, and discharged another shot, fatally injuring Mr Creed.
Neighbours heard the gunshots, followed by the screams of the victim's children.
The attacker then left the scene on a bicycle in the direction of Nangor Road. He was wearing a balaclava.
Mr Creed's body remained at the scene until yesterday morning, when State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy arrived to carry out a preliminary examination.
The remains were later removed to the city morgue, where a full postmortem was performed.
The house was cordoned off by gardaí, and members of the Garda technical bureau carried out a full technical examination of the scene yesterday. Gardaí also conducted house-to-house inquiries.
The killing comes as gardaí continue their crackdown on gun crime in Dublin under the newly-established Operation Anvil.
It has been put in place following the recent spate of gangland-style killings.
