GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the shooting dead of two young men late last year in an apparent case of mistaken identity have arrested a suspect.
Detectives also searched a number of properties in north Dublin as the investigation intensifies into the gang that shot dead Glen Murphy (20), O’Devaney Gardens, North Circular Road and Mark Noonan (23), Drumalee, North Circular Road.
The men, both single and unemployed, were gunned down on the night of November 24th as they pulled into a service station beside Clearwater shopping centre in Finglas, north Dublin.
Neither of the deceased was in any way involved in organised crime and in the days after the murders gardaí were baffled as to why they had been killed.
Detectives now believe that the killers were hired to kill two other men and mistook cousins Glen Murphy and Mark Noonan for the intended targets.
Yesterday morning gardaí arrested a man in his 30s in Kilbarrack, north Dublin. While a number of other addresses were also visited by gardaí only one arrest was made.
The man detained in Kilbarrack was taken to Finglas Garda station where he was still being held last night under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. The arrested man is a suspect in the case but gardaí do not believe he was the gunman.
Instead they are investigating if he played a role in the botched spotting, or setting up, of the intended targets on the night of the fatal double-gun attack.
Gardaí now believe the intended targets were two criminals from Coolock in north Dublin. The two men are involved in the drugs trade and are also heavily involved in gun crime.
Both have been targeted in unrelated gun attacks in recent years but have survived. Those shootings were linked to localised feuding in the Coolock area.
However, both men were also involved in feuding in north Dublin a number of years ago with criminals who are now based in Northern Ireland but who still have ties to the Dublin criminal fraternity.
Gardaí are working on the theory that the criminal figures now based in the North wanted to kill their former rivals from Coolock in a bid to effectively settle old scores.
They believe the criminals now based in the North asked other gangland figures to carry out the double killing.
