Community shocked by drive-by shooting of teenager
There has been widespread shock and condemnation following the drive-by shooting of a 16-year-old boy.
The teenager was shot in the back and arm as he stood outside a house in the Crumlin area of Dublin last night.
Local Councillors said they were horrified by the indiscriminate attack.
Labour's Michael O'Sullivan warned there was a danger of people becoming numb to such shootings, after three other men were shot dead in similar gangland-style gun attacks in recent weeks.
"We've got to the stage where it's nearly become something that people don't react to," said Mr O'Sullivan.
"It's just been reported today that a 14-year-old girl in Pakistan has been shot by the Taliban, and we have worldwide condemnation. We should be acting to the same degree of horror."
Detectives are trying to establish a motive for the gun attack, which happened at around 9pm in Lismore Road.
They are investigating if the youth - who was not known to them - was an innocent bystander in the drive-by shooting.
He was rushed to St James's Hospital, where he is in a serious but stable condition. His injuries are not thought to be life- threatening.
The youth was with a group of people when a black saloon car pulled up and two shots were fired.
It is not yet known if a man in the teenager's company was the intended target.
It is understood several men were in the vehicle.
Mr O'Sullivan, chairman of the Dublin 12 Local Drugs Task Force, said recent trouble in Crumlin had given the area a bad name.
"There's like a parallel universe in the area. You have people going about their ordinary lives, unaware of trouble brewing under the surface," he said.
"But then these gangland-type incidents flare up from time to time."
He urged locals not to let those involved in the shootings take over their lives.
Labour Councillor Henry Upton also condemned the brazen attack, but said he did not want to scaremonger over the possible escalation of a gangland feud.
"The reality is there are decent people living in this area who should be able to go about their ordinary lives without worrying about bullets flying over their heads," said Mr Upton.
Local Fine Gael Councillor Ruairi McGinley said it was clear the gunman meant murder.
"I know the Lismore Road well and they would have been shooting at very close quarters," he said.
"There's no doubt, they were shooting to kill."
Mr McGinley, who is chairman of the Dublin 12 Local Policing Forum, said the group would meet tonight to discuss the latest attack.
There have been 13 gang-related killings this year. John Wilson, 35, became the latest on September 28 when he was gunned down at his home in Ballyfermot, west Dublin.
The shooting was initially suspected of being linked to a feud with the Real IRA.
Earlier that week, Declan O'Reilly was shot in South Circular Road, Dublin, and Gerard Eglington, who is originally from the Crumlin area, was murdered in his home in Portarlington, Co Laois.
The 27-year-old was the latest victim of the bloody Crumlin/Drimnagh feud, which has claimed 15 lives over the last 10 years.
Meanwhile, the 16-year-old victim is the second youngster to be shot in Dublin this year.
Melanie McCarthy-McNamara, from Tallaght, was shot dead in the head in a drive-by shooting as she sat in the back seat of a car in February.
Gardaí believe she was not the intended target.
Two men have been charged with the murder.
In a separate development in Crumlin, Gardaí arrested four men and seized a firearm following a search in Captain's Road.
Officers also recovered a telescopic sight and firearm component parts.
The search began yesterday afternoon and was carried out by Dublin Metropolitan Region detectives.
The men, who are in their late teens and early 20s, are being held at Crumlin, Sundrive Road and Terenure garda stations.
