GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the shooting dead of Jason Egan in west Dublin last Friday night fear the gun murder will lead to a feud between gangland criminals and a faction of men linked to the Provisional IRA.
Gardaí are investigating if the murder of Mr Egan (23) in Mulhuddart is linked to the murder of Wayne Doherty in Hartstown, west Dublin, in July. Senior officers believe that if the two killings are linked, which appears to be the case, they effectively represent the first round in a tit-for-tat gun feud.
Mr Egan was locking up his Centrepoint newsagents shop at Ladyswell Road, Parlickstown, at 8.30pm on Friday when he was gunned down. A man stepped from behind a van parked outside the shop and discharged a volley of shots from a handgun.
He was wounded seven times in the upper body and the gunman ran away. Mr Egan was taken by ambulance to James Connolly Memorial Hospital Blanchardstown, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
Gardaí believe a close associate of Mr Egan was involved in the shooting dead of Mr Doherty (32) in July. They believe this suspect fled the country shortly after that murder and has remained overseas since then. They believe some of Mr Doherty’s associates, who have strong links to the Provisional IRA, wanted to avenge his death.
Detectives are working on the theory that because the chief suspect for Mr Doherty’s murder was out of the country, some of his associates instead decided to shoot someone close to him, namely Mr Egan.
Mr Doherty was shot dead on the street outside his parents’ house at Oakview Way, Hartstown, west Dublin, at 11.30pm on July 4th. Gardaí believe the shooting was linked to a row at a christening party in a pub in Co Meath earlier on that day.
A man known to the Doherty family became involved in a fight in the pub with a man from Clonsilla. The man known to the Doherty family left the pub and rang Mr Doherty saying he believed his home, which is near the Doherty family home in Oakview Way, was about to be attacked arising from the pub row. He asked Mr Doherty, a former pub bouncer and an accomplished boxer, to help him.
Later that night two cars carrying an unknown number of men pulled into Oakview Way. At least one of them was armed with a sawn-off shotgun. Gardaí believe they were associates of the man from Clonsilla who had been in the pub row with the man known to the Doherty family.
Mr Doherty was outside his parents’ home with his brother and sister when the two cars pulled in. He crossed the road to confront the occupants of one of the vehicles. As he did this, one of the men in the car produced a sawn-off shotgun. He fired two shots, one of which fatally wounded Mr Doherty in the side of the upper body.
The suspected gunman and a number of other men at the scene of the shooting immediately fled Dublin and later left the country. Gardaí believe they did this not only to avoid prosecution but also to avoid being shot in revenge attacks.
Gardaí are now appealing to anybody who was in the vicinity of last Friday’s attack at the time of the murder to come forward,
Supt John Gilligan, head of the Garda Press Office, said one witness had described Mr Egan’s killer as being dressed in dark clothing. He ran towards Wellview Road after the shooting.
It is unclear if the gunman had a getaway car nearby. Two vehicles were found burnt out an hour after the killing and gardaí are trying to establish if either is linked to the shooting. A black Toyota Landcruiser was found at Raynestown outside Dunshaughlin and a red VW Golf was found at Valley Park Drive, Finglas.
Anybody with information is asked to contact Blanchardstown Garda station on 01-6667000.