Gardai hunt teenage cyclist killer in 'gang feud' shooting
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SPECIALIST garda units were back on the streets of inner city Dublin last night, as senior officers feared retaliation for the cold-blooded murder of a 21-year-old man.
Victim Gavin McCarthy was shot twice by a gunman, who made his escape on a bicycle.
Officers believe the shooting is linked to the deadly feud that has now claimed four lives since December 2006. They are also investigating the possibility the murder could be a result of McCarthy's suspected involvement in drug trafficking in the north-inner city.
According to eye-witness accounts, the killer, who covered his face with a scarf, was aged between 17 and 19 years.
Armed with a handgun, the teenage assassin cycled along Sheriff Street towards a Chinese takeaway and then opened fire. McCarthy, who lived in nearby Oriel Street, was shot fatally in the mouth and was also struck in the body. Three other shots were fired but did not hit the intended target.
Gunman
The gunman abandoned the bicycle at Commons Street and then ran off into the George's Dock area, before making his way towards Amiens Street.
Last night gardai were making door to door enquiries and examining footage taken from CCTV cameras along the escape route in a bid to identify the killer. The youth was described as being 5ft 8in tall, of thin build, dressed in dark clothing, including a scarf held up around his nose to cover his face, and wearing runners.
Garda Supt Ray Barry, of Store Street station, said the investigation team was examining a number of lines of inquiry, including the possible link to the feud, although he admitted there was no definitive evidence at this stage to pinpoint the motive for the shooting.
A bicycle recovered from Commons Street by gardai was being examined by forensic experts.
Gardai appealed to anybody who was in that part of the north-inner city between 8.30pm and 9.30pm and might have spotted anybody acting suspiciously, to contact the incident room at Store Street, 01 6668000, or the confidential hotline, 1800 666111. Meanwhile, members of the emergency response unit and the organised crime unit were back on the streets around the IFSC last night in an effort to prevent further bloodshed in the area.
Saturation patrolling of the district was carried out for several months last year in an effort to ease the tension between the feuding factions, after two murders within a fortnight during the Christmas period in 2006.
The first victim was Gerard "Batt" Byrne, who had been linked with several attacks on property occupied by the rival gang. Two weeks later Stephen Ledden was shot in the head in Oriel Street. As a result of the extra patrols, the feud-linked violence eased until last April when Anthony Russell, a close associate of gang leader Christy Griffin, was shot dead while attending a function at a pub in Artane after a funeral.
McCarthy was also an associate of Griffin, whose conviction and life sentence for the rape of a young girl sparked off the feud.
The latest victim was well known to gardai with a string of criminal convictions and was suspected of carrying out a number of attacks as part of the feud.
- Tom Brady and Louise Hogan
