The scene of the gangland hit in Dublin’s Regency Hotel where drug dealer David Byrne man was shot dead at a boxing weigh in by up to four men dressed in Garda style uniforms
A DERRY-BASED journalist cheated injury in a gangland execution during a boxing weigh-in on Friday.
BBC Radio Foyle sports reporter Kevin McAnena told how he stared down the barrel of a hitman’s gun who had come to settle a bloody score between rival Dublin crime gangs.
He said he had “never felt terror like it” when one of the attackers pointed a gun at him.
The man killed in the shooting at a boxing weigh-in in Dublin on Friday has now been named as David Byrne, 32, from Raleigh Square in Crumlin in the south of the city.
Two other men were seriously injured in the incident at Dublin’s Regency Hotel at about 2.30 pm.
One of the men was shot in the chest.
Police have said four gunmen were involved in the attack – two wore police-style SWAT team uniforms, while another was dressed as a woman.
Those dressed in the police uniforms were armed with assault rifles.
The other gunman was described as being stocky and wore a beige cap. The man dressed as a woman wore a blonde or auburn wig.
A van was found burned out a short time after the shooting in the Charlemont estate in the Marino area of Dublin.
The shooting happened during a weigh-in for a World Boxing Organization (WBO) title fight between Jamie Kavanagh and Antonio Joao Bento.
Kavanagh tweeted afterwards: “I’m Ok. I was lucky today is all I can say.”
BBC journalist Kevin McAnena was at the weigh-in and had to jump over the reception desk to take cover from the gunmen.
He was only feet away when one of the gunmen shot one man dead.
BBC Radio Foyle reporter Kevin McAnena speaking after the shooting in Dublin hotel during boxing weigh in
Said the Radio Foyle reporter: “I was in the lobby of the hotel and I noticed a lot of panic, people started running. I remembered I looked at the receptionist and I said ‘what’s going on?’ I thought maybe a fist fight had broken out.
“The next thing I heard two loud gunshots from outside coming into the hotel at which point, two men, who I thought were Garda officers, turns out now they were just dressed up in Garda uniforms, came in with guns.
“One of them ran into the restaurant in front of us, the other one turned around to where I was and a guy running through the lobby, shot him in the leg.
“At that point I jumped over the reception desk, I think I smashed a vase on my way and then the gunman came over to reception, looked down at me and pointed the gun at me, I was shouting before he came over, ‘Don’t shoot, don’t shoot.’
“He said something to me but I don’t know what he even said, I can’t remember at this point. I just know I’ve never felt terror like it. I was really really scared and then after that it was just silence.
“I lay there for a while and then I went on around the reception because I knew the receptionist had gone somewhere, found him in a back room and I hid there for about an hour. It’s pretty terrifying stuff.
“The man that I saw being shot in the leg is the man that is now dead. He was no more than 6 foot from me, the gun shots I heard after I jumped over the receptionist’s desk were probably the gunshots that finished him off from the gunman, and then that same gunman looked over at me and pointed the gun at me before telling me, I think he said something like ‘get up’ or ‘go away’ or something like that.
“By the time I had jumped over that reception desk almost everyone had scarpered out of the lobby. The initial run of people all ran towards the exit but the gunmen came in through the exit so I don’t know what happened there. Some ran towards the restaurant where the gunmen went in. To be honest I can’t remember the exact details of everything else.”
Kevin, speaking to the BBC, then described the weapons the gunmen were using.
“Big massive guns are the only thing I can describe them as. Gardaí have told me since that they were AK47 rifles.
“I heard two or three outside and then when they came inside I heard at least three more.
“I’ve been interviewed by Gardaí for almost an hour.
“It was just so surreal, it happened so quickly. I remember thinking to myself, and it’s weird how much goes through your head in a split second, but after he shot the guy, he just turned and shot him without even taking the time to see who he was or anything. I remember thinking, ‘can that be Gardaí?
“Why would Gardaí police officers shoot so indiscriminately?’ cause he just turned and shot him. And I remember terror, because if he just shot him without looking, he’s gonna shoot me.
“It’s just tragic, people coming for a sporting event, there was obviously a big hype about. What I do know is the guy who was the main event in the boxing, Jamie Kavanagh, who was fighting for, I think, a European title, he was there at the weigh in, his father was shot dead I think about half a mile from here in the last couple of years, as well. So thoughts with him as well, obviously it’s going to bring back loads of painful memories for him.”
Garda detectives are concerned that there could be retaliation for the attack.
Police suspect the shooting could be related to an ongoing feud between two criminal gangs following the murder of Dubliner Gary Hutch in Spain last year.
On Friday evening, Gardai held a press conference in Dublin.
“Gardaí believe that at least four people were involved in the incident,” Ch Supt Barry O’Brien said.
“Two were described at wearing police style uniforms similar to a SWAT team uniform, including metal helmets.
“The men were armed with automatic weapons. Two others were carrying handguns.
“One was a man disguised as a woman and wearing an auburn wig and the other was stocky and wearing a beige cap.”
He appealed for anyone who was at the hotel to contact police.
Pay per view channel Box Nation has now cancelled tonight’s ‘Clash of the Clans’ show at Dublin’s National Arena as a result of the murder.
Tags: