A man has died after being shot in the head and chest in Dublin, in what police believe was another attack linked to the war between Ireland’s two main crime gangs.
The victim has been named as Dave Douglas, a 53-year-old shop owner originally from north Dublin. He sustained serious head and chest injuries when he was shot on Friday afternoon in the city, police said.
A gun was reportedly found nearby and a burned-out Mercedes was discovered close to the scene of the attack, which was sealed off.
The surrounding area is a stronghold of crime gang members aligned to Christy Kinahan, a convicted international drug dealer based in Spain’s Costa del Sol.
Kinahan’s gang is embroiled in a bitter feud with gangsters loyal to another of Ireland’s famous crime lords, Gerry “The Monk” Hutch.
Since gunmen linked to the Hutch gang attacked a boxing bout weigh-in at a Dublin hotel in February, there have been eight lives lost in the Republic’s worst-ever gangland feud.
The Kinahan gang are believed to have been responsible for seven out of the eight fatal shootings, whose victims included Hutch’s older brother.
Douglas is said to have been the target of several other murder attempts in recent months.
