GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the shooting dead of a gangland criminal and the wounding of his partner in a feud-related attack have found the vehicles they believe were used by the killer and his associates.
The murder weapon was left at the scene.
Séamus O’Byrne (27) was shot just before 8.30pm on Friday outside a house at Tymon North Park in Tallaght, west Dublin. His partner (26) tried to grab the gun off the killer and was wounded in the leg.
The gunman dropped his weapon at the scene as he was tackled by the woman.
Gardaí later arrested three men and they are being questioned about the attack.
Gardaí said a young baby was sitting in a car outside the house when Mr O’Byrne was fatally shot in the back as he tried to run from his killer. The woman was taken to Tallaght Hospital for treatment for her leg wound but has since left the hospital.
Supt John Gilligan said one of the killers was described as being about 172cm-175cm (5ft 8in or 5ft 9in), of stocky build and wearing a hood. He had tight dark hair. His accomplice was described as being 172cm-178cm (5ft 8in to 5ft 10in), of strong build and wearing a long black jacket.
Gardaí believe the attack is linked to an ongoing feud between two drugs gangs in the Dublin suburbs of Crumlin and Drimnagh.
Mr O’Byrne’s killing is the 11th murder in the feud and four other fatal attacks are indirectly linked to the same dispute.
The violence erupted nearly 10 years ago when a large gang of young criminals split into two factions after one of them was accused of supplying information to gardaí that led to drugs being seized and two men being jailed. Since then the feud has not only resulted in tit-for-tat murders but has also involved stabbings, non-fatal shootings and pipe bomb attacks. Last year some rival gang members shot at each others’ grandparents’ houses.
Mr O’Byrne was originally from Landsdowne Valley, Drimnagh, but had recently been living in Tallaght, where he and his partner were shot.
He was a close associate of the leader of one of the gangs involved in the feud. The gang leader is currently in prison for different incidents including drug dealing and assault, and for his role in an armed incident in which a Garda car was shot at.
The injured woman is also close to the gang leader and gardaí now fear the latest attack will result in revenge shootings.
The gun recovered from the scene and two cars used in the attack that were later seized by gardaí were forensically examined over the weekend.
The three men being held were detained after a car in which they were travelling was stopped by members of the Organised Crime Unit in Crumlin on Friday night, about three hours after the murder. The men, one in his late teens and two in their mid-20s, are being detained under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act at Tallaght and Rathfarnham Garda stations.
