A MANHUNT is underway for a suspect who pepper-sprayed a 26-year-old shopping centre security guard in the face before stabbing him four times.

The horrific incident, which occurred at Northside Shopping Centre in Coolock last night, was caught on CCTV and gardai are trying to identify the suspect.

The victim – a Lithuanian national who lives in the Coolock area – was shutting an exterior gate after the shopping centre closed last night when a man approached him. He suffered a pepper spray attack to his face and was then stabbed four times in the buttocks.

The security man managed to run away and his assailant also fled the scene and gardai from Coolock were quickly notified of the situation.

The shopping centre manager, Alan McCabe, said the attack seemed to be "a random one".

He said the security man was one of four staff locking up the centre last night and he had gone to lock a metal gate across a service area at the front of the centre just after 9pm.

"The attacker came from the underground pass and pepper-sprayed the security man. Then he tried to stab him in the back. He missed his back but managed to stab him four times.

UNDERPASS

"The guy then jumped over the wall and dropped about 15ft back into the underpass and ran off."

He added that the injured man was able to radio his colleagues for help.

The injured man has been employed at the centre for the past seven years and has been living in Ireland for 12 years.

The security man was rushed to Beaumont hospital for treatment and was discharged in the early hours of this morning.

Mr McCabe said gardai were going through CCTV footage from the centre's cameras to help them identify the culprit.

It is understood that detectives are probing whether the incident is linked to some kind of "personal grudge" or whether the attacker was a "strung-out shoplifter".

There have been no arrests so far in the case which is being investigated by Coolock gardai.

HNEWS@HERALD.IE