TWO MEN are being questioned about the fatal stabbing of a man as he tried to escape the scene of a robbery he had just carried out.
The victim, Paul Howe (23), Glenshane, Tallaght, Dublin, was one of two men who entered the Supervalu supermarket on Howth Road, Killester, Dublin, just before 8.30pm on Wednesday.
Howe and an accomplice had gone to the supermarket armed with knives intending to carry out a robbery.
They threatened staff with their weapons and demanded money as shoppers looked on.
When a sum of money was handed over the two men ran from the supermarket into the car park at the rear of the premises. However, security staff and customers chased them.
A number of members of the public joined the chase.
Howe was caught at the back of the car park as his accomplice managed to flee. There was a scuffle between Howe and those who had chased him.
The 23-year-old was stabbed during the scuffle. The fatal injuries were inflicted by Howe's own knife.
He was taken by ambulance to nearby Beaumont Hospital.
However, efforts to save him failed and he was pronounced dead. Gardaí are seeking the dead man's accomplice.
Garda sources said they are satisfied the stabbing followed the robbery by Howe and his accomplice.
However, the exact events in the moments before the killing have not yet been fully established.
At this stage gardaí are working on the theory that the fatal wound was inflicted by a member of the public who was outside the shop when the incident happened and joined the chase.
Detectives are confident that they will confirm the identity of the person after all of the eyewitnesses have been interviewed.
Gardaí are also studying CCTV footage from security cameras inside and outside the supermarket.
Gardaí arrested one man in his 30s at the scene on Wednesday night.
A foreign national, he was one of the group who chased the man from inside the shop. A second man was arrested yesterday morning.
Both men are being held at Raheny Garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
The scene was sealed off after the killing and underwent a full forensic examination yesterday by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.
A search of the car park yielded a knife. It was being examined last night. Gardaí believe it was the weapon taken to the scene by Howe which was then used to stab him.
Shoppers and those attracted by the Garda activity gathered at the scene yesterday and expressed their disbelief, while Garda forensic experts worked in the cordoned-off car park.
"No one knows what's happened . . . there's loads of stories flying around, I can't believe it," said one woman among those gathered by a neighbouring coffee shop and hairdressing salon.
Another woman who had arrived to do her weekly shopping said she loved living in nearby Castle Avenue but was becoming afraid to walk around the area at night.
Supervalu staff and management arrived for work yesterday morning, but most left by mid-morning as it became apparent that the shop would stay closed.
The area where the shop is located, on the junction of Collins Avenue East and Howth Road, is regarded as a quiet, settled neighbourhood.
Speaking at the scene yesterday morning Senator Ivor Callely said the killing was "a sad reflection of society today".
Mr Callely, who had a constituency office on the Howth Road before he lost his Dáil seat, added that local people were shocked.
Howe's killing is the second violent death in the area in recent weeks. On September 13th, Chris Barry (24), Middle Third, Killester, was shot dead in a bookies on Killester Avenue.
Gardaí investigating Howe's killing are anxious to speak to anybody who was in Supervalu or outside the shop when the robbery and fatal stabbing took place.
Gardaí in Raheny can be contacted on 01-6664300.
