Shot man may have talked to gardaí about murders

A window cleaner shot dead as he cycled close to a school may have been targeted because it was believed he spoke to gardaí about the murders of two other men.

John O’Regan, 48, a married father of one, died after being hit by up to six bullets as he cycled to work in Ballymun, Dublin, at around 8.45am yesterday.

The attack took place on Gateway Avenue, a residential cul de sac a short distance from Ballymun Garda Station and just metres from the grounds of a school which would normally have been packed at this hour but was closed for the Easter holidays

Gardaí were quickly on the scene and administered first aid. However, the victim was pronounced dead at the Mater Hospital a short time later.

His attacker is believed to have been alone and to have been on a bicycle. Gardaí want to trace a man who was seen cycling away wearing a high-visibility jacket and a baseball cap.

Mr O’Regan, who was originally from Finglas but was living in Ballymun, had a number of criminal convictions but had not come to the attention of gardaí in recent years, apart from during investigations into two other murders in the area.

It is believed he had spoken to detectives about the shooting dead of a man in 2003, a crime which has remained unsolved, and also about a fatal attack on another man in 2006 for which two men were later convicted of assault.