Feud gunshot victim makes swift exit from A&E unit

A MAN with shotgun wounds to his backside did a slow and painful runner from the A&E unit at Limerick hospital yesterday before doctors had a chance to treat his wounds.

The injured man, a member of a well-known criminal family who are involved in a new and vicious feud with another family in the Southill area, left the hospital when medical staff informed him gardaí had to be notified of all gunshot wounds.

The latest feud is for control of the lucrative drugs trade in the Limerick area. Two men have been wounded in a series of gun attacks in recent days.

The wounded man went to St John’s Hospital but left before he could be treated. He was barely able to walk.

The latest outbreak of hostilities between the two families started last Friday night. One man is still in the Mid-Western Regional hospital after receiving a bullet wound to the knee.

The two families have been waging attacks on each other since last Friday night when shots were fired in O’Malley Park.

The following night shots were fired at a house in the same area.

On Sunday night a man was hit in the knee when a gunman opened fire in Salvia Court.

A short time later shots were fired in Glasgow Park.

Armed detectives rushed into the estate again yesterday afternoon at around 3pm when reports were received that more shots had been fired. One family live in a halting site near Southill and the other family live in the estate.

Four men were arrested yesterday morning in the Ballysimon Road area after a high speed garda chase. A firearm was found in the car their car.

Meanwhile, a man is in stable condition in hospital after a shooting incident in Tipperary yesterday.

The man, who is in his 30s, was shot in the right leg shortly after midnight on Tuesday at The Gashouse Bridge, on the Old Waterford Road, according to gardaí. He was taken to Clonmel General Hospital for treatment and later transferred to Waterford Regional Hospital.

Gardaí arrested two men, also in their 30s, in a follow-up operation. They are being held in Clonmel Garda Station under section 30, Offences against the State Act.

Detectives have appealed for anybody who may have been in the area of the Gashouse Bridge, and who may have witnessed any suspicious or unusual activity, to contact Clonmel Garda Station.

Meanwhile gardaí in Dublin are investigating a shooting incident in south Dublin early yesterday.