Shots fired at young boys as gang feud escalates

THE feud between two Limerick gangs has taken a sinister twist with a gunman opening fire on two brothers aged eight and 12 while they played on an open green near their homes.

The brothers are related to a family connected to one of the main feuding gangs. Neither was injured.

The car used by the gunman was later found burned out in the Ballyclough area.

The attack was carried out in Garryowen at 9.10pm on Monday.

Gardaí said there was no “official complaint” about the shooting but confirmed they were investigating a shooting incident.

Two shots were fired at the young boys playing on Garryowen Green.

A car immediately sped away from the area.

The car had been stolen the previous night in the city.

Underage members of Geraldine’s soccer club had been training in the area just before the shooting.

One Garryowen resident said: “If the lads training were still there when the shooting happened, it could have been far worse. One of them could easily have been hit. All the lads training are aged between 12 and 16 years.”

Henry Street gardaí could not confirm whether the children were targeted deliberately but are continuing investigations.

Tensions between the city’s criminal gangs have heightened considerably in recent months. Last month, there were 11 separate reported shootings in seven days.

Armed patrols have been increased in the city’s flashpoint areas and a number of families in the Hyde Road area have had to flee their homes following arson attacks.

Children have been targeted in previous gang shootings.

In one incident also in the Garryowen area, the son of murdered crime boss, Kieran Keane, was shot at as he walked to a local shop for ice cream.

A pillion passenger on a motorbike fired shots from a semiautomatic handgun before speeding off.

Last month, a 16-year-old received life-threatening bullet wounds when he was shot in Southill.

He was standing in the street talking to a man sitting in a car.

Gardaí believe the man in the car was the intended target.

However, the youth received a number of bullet wounds and was brought to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital where emergency surgery saved his life.