Gardaí fear for bystanders after gun attack on motorway

FEARS are growing that innocent bystanders will become caught up in gangland feuds after yesterday’s shootout on the country’s busiest road involving two rival drug gangs.

A search is continuing this morning for the gunmen, after shots were fired between two cars which sped along the M50 motorway in Dublin.

Gardaí said the shooting was linked to a gangland feud involving drug dealers based in Clondalkin in West Dublin. They said it was a very dangerous incident and was a miracle that no one was killed.

The shots were fired as both cars pulled off the motorway onto the N4 at 4am yesterday. In a scene that has been likened to gang warfare in east Los Angeles suburbs, four men wearing balaclavas drove alongside another car and fired up to 10 shots at the occupants inside.

The shooting stopped when the targets pulled into a petrol station on the N4 in Lucan, where the two occupants left the vehicle and used the bathroom facilities to wash off blood.

According to gardaí, both were wearing bulletproof vests and staff at the petrol station said one of the men appeared to have suffered injuries to his shoulder and was bleeding.

He was treated for superficial injuries in James Connolly hospital in Blanchardstown, but he discharged himself and refused to make a statement to gardaí.

The car has been taken away for forensic examination and gardaí are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact them in Lucan.

Superintendent Mark Curran said: “Lives could have been lost this morning. We are asking anyone who was on the M50 or N4 at that time yesterday morning to contact us if they saw anything unusual.”

The shooting comes just three months after the discovery of a bomb in a car on the M50, and has led to concern that innocent members of the public will get caught up in gangland crime.

Last night there was further criticism of Justice Minister Michael McDowell whom the opposition have once again accused of failing to crack down on gangland crime.

Labour Justice spokesperson Joe Costello said the feuds in Dublin suburbs are becoming reminiscent of gang warfare in east LA.

“The incident demonstrates the virtual impunity with which gangs believe they can operate. They clearly have no respect whatsoever for the law or for public safety,” he said.

Fine Gael Justice spokesperson Jim O’Keeffe said the public is beginning to fear that nowhere is safe. “This is another example of gangland crime spilling over into ordinary life with the M50 effectively turned into a shooting gallery,” he said.