Two arrested over drive-by shooting
Stephen Hynes, 16, was hit with shotgun cartridge pellets in the back and head by a gunman firing out of a car. He was talking to two other people, a 17-year-old male and a 21-year who is known to gardaí, Karl Fay, outside a house on Lismore Rd, Crumlin, shortly after 9pm on Tuesday.
Gardaí believe Mr Fay was the intended target of the shooting, which could have claimed the lives of two innocent people.
“They didn’t care who they shot,” said a garda source. “They saw there were three people there and fired two blasts. The young lad had his back to them and got the full whack.”
A dark-coloured saloon car was later found burnt out a short distance away in Poodle Close, Kimmage.
Gardaí said Stephen was innocent, had no involvement in crime, and was simply a cousin of Mr Fay.
Justice Minister Alan Shatter said Stephen was “not engaged in criminality” and was in the “wrong place at the wrong moment”.
Detectives yesterday arrested two men in their late 20s in relation to the shooting.
Mr Fay has survived a number of attacks on his home and at least one attempt on his life. Last October, his family home in Crumlin was targeted in a pipe-bomb attack, but no one was injured. He had moved to Co Laois for a period after an attempt on his life in Milltown, south Dublin, in Apr 2011.
He was fired at several times at close range and was hit once in the stomach.
In Oct 2009, Mr Fay and another man were acquitted of the murder of Declan Rooney in Crumlin in 2008 after a key witness said he was unable identify the killers.
Garda sources said there was now a new generation of young criminals in Crumlin and Drimnagh. Sources said these outfits were loosely associated with the main feuding gangs, but did not suspect the latest shooting was connected.
An occupant of Mr Fay’s home yesterday told reporters that “an innocent man” lived in the house and that “an innocent 16-year-old” had been shot.
A friend at Stephen’s house said the family did not want to comment. She said the boy was recovering in hospital. She said he was still at school and was “totally innocent”.
A neighbour, 15-year-old Martin O’Connor, said he was shocked and Stephen “wouldn’t start trouble with anyone”.
Martin’s dad, Martin Hynes Sr, said Stephen would always be playing on the street and never caused any hassle.
Mr Shatter said it was another example of the “savage disregard” some criminals had for life. He insisted gardaí had “all the resources they require”.
In a separate investigation, detectives in Crumlin arrested four men, aged 19-21, after they recovered a firearm and a telescope at a property on Captains Rd.
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