GARDAÍ BELIEVE those behind a triple shooting that left one man dead may have sabotaged electronic gates on an apartment block over a week ago to make it easier to get at their target.
John “BJ” Clarke (21), Beauvale Park, Artane, north Dublin, died from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body when a car he was travelling in was sprayed with automatic gunfire at 3am yesterday.
His was the 12th gun murder of the year.
Two other men – aged 20 and 18 years and both from Darndale in north Dublin – were wounded but survived yesterday’s attack.
The men’s car was ambushed as it entered an underground car park at the Brookwood Abbey apartments on Brookwood Grove, Artane.
The driver of the vehicle was wounded in the hand and managed to drive Clarke the short distance to Beaumont Hospital. Clarke was pronounced dead on arrival.
Hospital staff alerted gardaí as residents in Brookwood Grove also informed gardaí that a man with gunshot wounds was lying on the pavement outside Our Lady of Mercy Church on Gracefield Avenue, which is adjacent to the apartments.
This man had been in the 07 D BMW 7 series car with Clarke and the driver. He is believed to have tried to run from the car to safety but suffered wounds to the back of the head and neck.
His injuries are believed to be shrapnel wounds and the wounds are not life threatening. Gardaí later found a silver BMW 5 series burned out at Mount Prospect Ave, Clontarf.
They believe the car was used by the killers.
Up to 15 shots were fired in the attack and gardaí say at least two men were involved.
Gardaí are hopeful CCTV footage will shed light on the car park attack.
Gardaí said the electronic gates of the car park had not been working for over a week.
They believe the gates may have been tampered with by the killers as part of meticulous planning. Gardaí said Clarke was the killers’ target and that he always parked in the car park.
His partner and baby live in the apartment block.
Clarke had been shot in the legs six weeks ago as part of a drugs feud in Darndale. His murder yesterday was almost certainly drug related, sources said.
Supt Mark Curran of Coolock Garda station appealed for information from anybody who may have seen a silver BMW around the Brookwood Abbey apartment complex on Wednesday night or yesterday morning.
Residents of the three-storey apartment complex expressed shock.
Violet McGowan said she was awake and heard a number of shots.
“I heard moaning and someone banging against my window. I was afraid to look out.
“I didn’t want to see what was out there,” she said.
People living in the complex were “gobsmacked”, she added. “Nothing like this has ever happened here”.
Audrey Chambers said she and her daughter were woken by shouting. She then heard “two loud bangs” and was “afraid for her life” following the incident.
“It’s madness,” she said.