A MANHUNT is under way in southern Spain after an Irish father-of-two was shot dead in front of his partner while celebrating a friend’s wedding.
John O’Neill, 40, from Coolock in north Dublin, was killed just after 3am yesterday outside Coco’s bar in the Arroyo de la Miel area of Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol.
The innocent man, who had no criminal record and worked as a plasterer, was in Spain with his partner, Maxine, and their two children, a three-year-old boy and a nine-month-old girl, as part of a friend’s wedding. The trip abroad was the first the family had taken together.
While celebrating the wedding with a large number of other guests, the Irishman became involved in an altercation with two men at the late-night bar.
As tensions grew, one of the assailants was told to leave the premises by the barman, who asked him to "do yourself a favour and go home".
However, minutes later the man, who is believed to be from Liverpool, returned with a loaded pistol.
He is understood to have waited outside the bar for Mr O’Neill and his partner to leave before shooting the father-of-two in the stomach and back and firing a number of rounds into the premises.
Eyewitness Luis Solero told a local TV station: "I saw a man running off with bloodstains on his shirt. He was still carrying the pistol in his hands."
Mr O’Neill was found in a pool of blood beside a bus stop approximately 50 yards from the bar by armed officers and an ambulance, which arrived at the scene within minutes.
However, paramedics were unable to save his life.
Police have ruled out any links to gang violence. However, they have retrieved a firearm and launched a major hunt for two men.
In a statement, the local police force confirmed: "Officers from Torremolinos are investigating the violent death of an Irish citizen who was killed by gunfire early this morning in a bar in the Avenida Antonio Machado in Benalmadena."
The murder of Mr O’Neill is being investigated by the specialist violent crime unit of the Spanish national police in Torremolinos.
Coco’s, the bar where he was gunned down, was yesterday sealed off as police investigated how the tragedy unfolded.
A popular destination for tourists and expatriates from Ireland, southern Spain has also developed as the foreign base for a number of Irish criminal gangs in recent years, resulting in a series of high-profile murders in the area.
Mr O’Neill is survived by his parents, two siblings, two children and his partner, Maxine, who are being given consular assistance by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Thursday, July 29, 2010
