Man survives after gunshots strike him in head, stomach and shoulder

A MAN shot in the head, stomach and shoulder was sitting up in his hospital bed talking to family members just hours after a drive-by attack.

The man, named locally as David Kelly, was shot three times when he stopped at traffic lights in west Dublin. A car pulled up alongside and the gunman fired three rounds from a pump-action shotgun. That is the preferred weapon, along with 9mm handguns, among Dublin gangsters.

The shooting happened late on Monday night at traffic lights on the Ninth Lock Road in Clondalkin. Garda sources said there was no doubt this was an attempt on Mr Kelly’s life.

He was rushed to Tallaght Hospital and his condition described as stable. But it has emerged Mr Kelly, who is in his thirties, was able to speak to family members, and gardaí, just hours later. His survival has been described by garda sources as remarkable.

A motive for the shooting has not yet been established.

Detectives from Ronanstown, one of the busiest districts in the city, are investigating. They are already dealing with various shootings and other serious crimes, mainly carried out by the various drug-dealing gangs in the west of the city.

Several gangs operate in the Clondalkin/Ronanstown area and it is believed Mr Kelly may have become embroiled in a row with one of them. While gardaí managed to have a few words with the injured man yesterday, one garda source said: “He would not be terribly fond of talking to us.”

Originally from Clondalkin, Mr Kelly is understood to have been living in Drimnagh in recent years.

He is a member of a large and well- known family.