A MAN gardaí believe open­ed fired injuring two security guards at St James's Hospital in Dublin is also the chief suspect in the disappearance of a Roma teenager who was abducted and murdered in 2007.

Detectives are preparing to travel to Romania in an attempt to solve the case.

A file has been sent to the DPP in relation to the hospital shooting. The man was one of two people arrested. The other man is not believed to have been directly involved in the shooting.

The night before the shooting, the criminal linked to the Roma case was one of a group of men ejected from the hospital for causing a disturbance. One man was arrested that night for the public order incident inside the hospital. Gardaí believe this man also returned to the hospital the next night and shot the security guards in retaliation. He remains at large and detectives are following a number of lines of enquiry as to his whereabouts.

"They came back the next night looking for revenge," said a garda source.

A separate investigation into the disappearance of 19-year-old Mariora Rostas is gathering pace and officers are due to travel to Romania to interview her brother.

The chief suspect for the shooting at St James's is believed to have abducted and murdered Rostas two years ago.