Gardaí investigate possible gangland connection after Dublin shooting

GARDAÍ are waiting to see if forensic tests will link two men currently in custody to an attempted gangland murder.

A member of a gang involved in a violent feud in south Dublin sustained serious injuries to his face and body, but escaped with his life in the shotgun attack.

Detectives yesterday said they would investigate whether the shooting was part of the ongoing feud, which has claimed at least eight lives in the last five years. But senior officers stressed they had no evidence the attack was linked. “This gentleman was involved in so much, it’s very hard to specify a particular reason,” said one detective.

The 22-year-old victim, named locally as Wayne McNally, has more than 50 previous convictions and is well known to local gardaí.

Officers said the return of a crime boss of one of the gangs had “heightened tensions” but said that therewas nothing yet to connect him with the shooting.

Mr McNally and two women were in a house on Gray Square, in Dublin’s south inner city, when the attack occurred just after 9pm on Tuesday.

Gardaí said they were investigating claims that the attacker jumped through the front window of the small cottage.

A garda source said the lone gunman targeted Mr McNally, who tried to flee into another room, and a number of shots were fired.

“He received a number of injuries to his face and other parts, but they were pellet injuries.

“He was very lucky. This is being treated as attempted murder,” said the source.

Gardaí said one of the women also received a minor injury, either from pellets or from shattered glass.

The lone gunman drove a car from the scene and abandoned it at nearby Oscar Square.

Mr McNally was brought to St James’s Hospital, where staff described his condition as critical, but stable.

A major garda investigation was set up and, a short time later, two men, who had stopped their car near the scene, were arrested.

The men, aged in their 20s, were detained in relation to the possession of firearms under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, which allows a maximum 72 hours’ detention. Gardaí said they would detain the men while they awaited forensic tests from the house and the abandoned car.