The brother of a Limerick teenager who died in a stabbing incident was recovering in hospital last night after being shot in the housing estate where his brother was stabbed four years ago.
John Paul Leamy (26) was wounded in the arm by a gunman near his home in the Lee Estate area of the city at 1.10am yesterday. Four years ago his brother, Eric Leamy (19), died after a stabbing incident.
Yesterday's attack was the fourth shooting in Limerick in as many days, although none of the incidents are linked, according to gardaí. At 5am on Monday a family had a lucky escape in Thomondgate. Three children and an adult were asleep when shots were fired through the front window of their bungalow. No one was injured.
On Sunday at 9.55pm a youth was shot in the leg in Kennedy Park on the opposite side of the city. He was not seriously injured.
Last Friday at 9.15pm Anthony Kelly - a brother of the late Limerick alderman and criminal Michael Kelly - was targeted by a gunman near his home in Southill. Mr Kelly (44) received pellet wounds to his leg after he was shot at several times in O'Malley Park. It follows a spate of similar incidents in recent months.
Gardaí say the attacks are connected to a dispute between two families in the Southill area, but Mr Kelly denies he or his family are involved in any feud.
Speaking from his bed in the Mid-Western Regional Hospital yesterday, the father of six said he was living in fear for his family but remained determined to stay in Southill. "They talk about rights for Travellers, but members of the settled community also have rights, and we have the right to stay living in our home."