A man has been shot a number of times in an incident in north county Dublin, gardai said.
Officers were called to the scene at the Dun Emer housing development in Lusk at around 9.50am.
A Garda spokeswoman said the male victim appears to have suffered gunshot wounds.
“The extent of his injuries are unknown at present,” she added.
Gardai remain at the scene.
Plain clothes detectives and uniformed gardai were carrying out house-to-house inquiries within an hour of the shooting.
The driver-side window of a white Volkswagen Passat at the scene was smashed, with glass on the ground.
There were also blood-soaked towels and a pair of jeans lying beside the car.
Gardai were seen picking up fragments of potential evidence on the ground.
The residential street is sealed off and a number of onlookers, including children on their summer holidays, had gathered around the scene.
Gardai said the victim is aged in his late thirties.
He has been taken to Beaumont Hospital where his condition is described as critical.
A Volkswagen Golf seen leaving the area was discovered burnt out at nearby Kilhedge Lane a short time later.
Investigators have appealed for anyone who saw anything suspicious in or around the Dun Emer area or Kilhedge Lane to get in contact.
