John Gilligan injured in Dublin shooting
Drug lord John Gilligan, the chief suspect in the murder of Veronica Guerin, has been shot.
The trafficker, who was released from jail last year, was attacked in the Greenfort Close area of Clondalkin tonight, gardaí said.
It is understood the gangster was shot in the arm and a leg.
The 61-year-old is understood to have been recently warned of threats to his life.
It was also reported that a gunman attempted to attack him in a pub in north Dublin several weeks after his release.
The gun attack is understood to have taken place at a relative’s house at about 7pm and two men are believed to have carried out the shooting.
Gilligan was freed from Portlaoise Prison last October after being jailed in 2001 for a multi-million euro cannabis trafficking operation.
He had been arrested in 1996 after being stopped by UK Customs officers with £296,000 in a suitcase as he attempted to get on a plane for Amsterdam at London’s Heathrow Airport.
Within hours of his release Gilligan repeatedly denied the murder of Ms Guerin, a crime journalist with the Sunday Independent, who was shot dead in 1996.
Gilligan was taken to Connolly hospital in Blanchardstown following the attack with what gardaí locally described as ``non-fatal'' injuries.
The notorious gangster suffered one bullet wound to the shoulder or upper chest and another one in one of his legs.
Detectives believe the attackers fled the scene in a silver SUV or 4X4 type motor.
Gardaí believe that three shots were fired in the attempted murder.
