Gardaí at shooting scene 'seconds before'

A 25-year-old man was shot dead seconds after armed gardaí patrolled the scene of the killing.

Gary Grant was gunned down at around 10.15pm yesterday in a housing estate in Limerick.

Gardaí deployed the force’s elite armed Emergency Response Unit (ERU) to patrol the city in a crackdown on the violence.

A senior officer revealed today they were running a checkpoint with local officers in the area just before the killing took place.

Garda Superintendent John Kerin, who is heading up the murder investigation, said: “At the time of the shooting we had two armed patrols and a uniformed patrol in the St Mary’s Park area in which the shooting occurred.

“The ERU were deployed to Limerick last week following consultation with Commissioner (Noel) Conroy and Deputy Commissioner (Fachtna) Murphy and they had just been carrying out a checkpoint at the top of the street with some of our uniform people seconds before the shooting occurred.

“Indeed we had another local armed unit on the street when it did occur. I have no doubt the gunman knew that the armed people were in the area.

“It certainly shows quite an amount of bravado,” he said.

A 20-year-old man arrested in connection with the killing is being questioned by detectives at Limerick’s Henry Street Garda Station.

Gardaí said officers with the ERU attended the scene immediately and tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate Mr Grant.

He was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was removed to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital.

A post mortem examination will be carried out by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy, while a forensic examination of the crime scene is being undertaken by garda technical officers.

In recent years, on-going feuds between rival gangs in the public housing areas of Moyross, Southill and St Mary’s Park has led to an escalation of the violence.

In September last year two children, aged six and four, were badly burned after their mother’s car was petrol bombed.

Three teenagers charged in connection with the incident are expected to be sentenced this week.

There have also been a number of drive-by house shootings.

Independent councillor John Gilligan, who is based in the St Mary’s Park area, said he has been frequently woken from his sleep by blasts of gun fire.

“This is not just hillbilly feuding. It is a corporate takeover by one gang,” he said.

Gun crime has become a major political issue.

Last year, there were 26 gun murders and to date this year there have been 11.

An unarmed motorcycle garda was shot during Dublin’s morning rush hour a fortnight ago as he stopped a stolen car.

Last weekend two men were gunned down in a double murder in the west of the capital.

A major debate on crime was held in the Irish parliament, the Dáil, last Wednesday after the issue was discussed at length.

A new package of policing measures to further reform the gardaí were announced last week.

Among the measures is the recruitment of senior investigating officers to take charge of serious crime inquiries such as murders.

Incident room co-ordinators will also be trained in order to free specialist resources previously tied up in managing roles.