A suspect in a kidnapping case is critically ill in hospital from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head sustained moments after he pointed his weapon at gardaí attempting to intervene.

The abduction was foiled when the chief suspect ordered his hostage to go into a petrol station shop to get cigarettes for him.

However, when the woman went into the service station shop she encountered two Garda members on a coffee break, leading to a car chase.

The pursuit ended with the suspect, who is from Crumlin in south Dublin, crashing his car, before running away from the vehicle and shooting himself with his own firearm on the side of a busy road.

Shocked state

The woman at the centre of the case, who is believed to have been in a relationship with the injured man, was said to be in a state of shock but has been helping gardaí with their inquiries.

Because the suspect in the case sustained a life threatening injury while in contact with members of the force, the case has been forwarded to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission for investigation.

Separately, gardaí are conducting a criminal inquiry into the allegations of abduction against the injured man.

The dramatic events began unfolding just before midnight on Monday when the injured man called to a house in the Irishtown area of Dublin 4.

Gardaí believe he had been in a relationship with a woman living there. Eyewitnesses have told gardaí they saw the man dragging the woman from the property by the hair into his car.

Woman ‘beaten’

The suspect is also believed to have beaten the woman at the house before abducting her.

The man then drove his car, carrying his hostage, around south Dublin for a period before calling to a house in Crumlin. Gardaí believe the firearm he used later may have been collected at that property.

The man drove from Crumlin to the Templelogue area and pulled into a Texaco service station near the Spawell leisure complex and M50.

He told the woman to go into the station to buy cigarettes and threatened that she would be harmed if she did not return.

While he waited in the car on the forecourt, the woman met two uniformed gardaí who were on a coffee break. They noticed she was injured and distressed.

After speaking to her, they went outside to confront the man in the waiting car but he fled from the scene after seeing the officers.

Garda pursuit

He drove out of the station, with gardaí pursuing him in their vehicle. He drove on one side of the dual carriageway towards the roundabout leading on to the M50, but turned and came back down the other side of the road, passing the service station again.

He then lost control of the vehicle at the Spawell roundabout and crashed.

When he got out of his car, the pursuing gardaí approached him on foot.

Garda sources said he threatened the unarmed gardaí, pointing his gun at them and attempting to fire. However, the gun jammed, and the gardaí retreated. The man then fired a second shot at the ground, which cleared the weapon.

He continued on foot to a nearby grass verge where he discharged another shot and slumped to the ground. When the two gardaí at the scene ran to where he had collapsed, they found him with a gunshot wound to the head. They called an ambulance which took him to nearby Tallaght Hospital where he remained on Tuesday night.

In a statement, the Garda Ombudsman said: “A man in his early 30s sustained injuries following the incident which took place on the city side of the Spawell roundabout.

“An ambulance had been called to the scene which rushed the man to Tallaght Hospital where he remains in a critical condition this morning.

“This incident was referred to GSOC according to Section 102 of the Garda Siochana Act 2005, which provides for independent investigation where death or serious harm has occurred to a person that has been in contact with a garda.”