Teenage girl accidentally shot at all-night party

A 16-YEAR-OLD Limerick girl miraculously escaped death yesterday when she was accidentally shot by friends doing target practice with a powerful handgun at an all-night house party.

Gardaí said the bullet which hit the girl was discharged from a semi-automatic weapon.

The incident happened in Ballinacurra Weston at around 5.30am yesterday.

A garda spokesman said: “The girl was hit in the chest by one bullet. We believe that it was a ricochet, and but for that she would have been killed.”

A group of young people had been holding a party in a house at Crecora Avenue when some of them went outside with a gun to fire off some shots for fun.

One source said: “It would appear somebody produced a gun. They were messing with the weapon and a shot was fired and it hit something before hitting the girl. It was not as though somebody shot at the girl. They are all friends.”

Those at the party, including the girl, are connected to the McCarthy Dundon feud gang family. The girl is said to be comfortable in the Mid-Western Regional Hospital.

When gardaí from Roxboro Road Station arrived at the scene, the gun had been removed. No weapon has been located despite intensive searches.

A garda spokesman said the shooting showed the ease with which people have access to high powered weapons in the city.

Extra armed patrols have been drafted in for outside divisions in recent weeks and gardaí are on a state of “high alert” due to increased feud tensions.

In a recent incident, more than 20 shots were fired at a man as he entered his home at Kilteragh, Dooradoyle.

The intended victim escaped death by diving for cover behind his car, which was sprayed with bullets.

He is a known associate of the Keane gang and was arrested and questioned in connection with a big arms find in a city centre flat last June.

In another incident, a 16-year-old youth was hit a number of times by bullets directed at person he was talking to in Southill.

This was also a feud related attack. Members of the boy’s family are believed to be considering moving to England as a result of what happened.

Back-up armed garda units have been sent to Limerick from Cork amid a recent spate of tit-for-tat shootings in which children and women were targeted.