Man Killed In Irish Gangland Shooting
Sky News understands the attack in County Meath is linked to a feud between two gangs which has already claimed three lives.
The 55-year-old was sitting in a car in The Old
Mill housing estate in Ratoath, County Meath, when he came under attack.
Sky News understands the victim was a close
friend of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, who heads one of two gangs engaged in an
underworld feud.
The turf war between them has already claimed
three lives and police had feared it could escalate.
Officers have
been on high alert since an audacious gun attack at Dublin's
Regency Hotel last month, during the weigh-in for a boxing match.
A five-man gang, three of them dressed as
members of a police SWAT team, burst into the hotel and opened fire with AK-47
assault rifles - killing one man and injuring others.
Gerry Hutch and Christy Kinahan, an Irish drugs
baron, used to be associates but younger members of their families have fallen
out.
Hutch is
suspected of masterminding the two biggest armed robberies in the history of
the Irish state.
Kinahan, now based on the Costa del Sol, has
drug and gun convictions in Ireland, Belgium and The Netherlands.
Gerry Hutch has blamed Kinahan for the murder
of his nephew, Gary Hutch, who was shot dead in Spain.
The shooting at the weigh-in was retaliation -
and the victim, David Byrne, was a close friend of the Kinahans.
Eddie Hutch, the brother of Gerry and uncle of
the first victim, was the third to die in the cycle of tit-for-tat killing.
Police investigating the shooting in Ratoath
have appealed for anyone who witnessed anything suspicious to contact them.
Post a Comment