A lone gunman dressed in black killed a father in the hallway of his home in the second gun murder in Dublin within as many hours.
Thomas Farnan, 37, was shot dead at the house in Kilcronan Close, Clondalkin, in the west of the city at about 11.45pm on Monday night.
Murder squad detectives were hunting for a killer who arrived at the semi-detached house alone and was dressed head to toe in black.
Gardai said the gunman was described as being short, wore runners and a tracksuit and may have had a balaclava on as he carried out the shooting.
Farnan, who had convictions for minor crimes and for assaulting a garda, was shot several times after he went to the front door.
At least one bullet hole could be seen in the frame of the door.
Gardai said the suspect ran from the house along Kilcronan Close on to the Grand Canal and then onto a green area towards Lock View Road.
The murder is not being linked to any of the wider gangland and underworld feuds which have left at least five people dead over several months.
But Superintendent Brendan Connolly said detectives were keeping an open mind over why Farnan was targeted and they were exploring “quite a number of possibilities”.
He added: “We are appealing for witnesses, particularly those who were in the Kilcronan Close area prior to or following on from this incident.”
Farnan, understood to be a father-of-one, suffered several gun shot wounds.
Local gardai were at the house within two minutes of the alarm being raised but the victim died there.
Mr Connolly described Farnan as being “known to them”.
He was jailed for four months in 2002 after pleading guilty to assaulting a garda after he ran at him and broke his leg.
The incident happened after he had been approached by two officers who believed he was acting suspiciously and he fled through a number of gardens before being confronted by the officer.
A large area of the cul-de-sac where Farnan lived was sealed off for forensic searches, along with a section of the nearby Grand Canal.