Gardaí are trying to establish if a drive-by shooting at a house in north Dublin this weekend was linked to a drugs feud in the local area.
The incident occurred at about 10pm on Saturday, when shots were fired by the occupants of a passing vehicle towards a house in Cabra.
Some of the shots hit the windows of the property on St Attracta Road. However, despite the fact there were three people in the property at the time, there were no reports of injuries.
Gardaí based at Mountjoy Garda station in the north inner city are investigating the attack. They believe it was most likely intended to threaten the occupants of the house rather than to kill.
“Shortly before 10pm a number of shots were fired at a house on St Attracta Road, Cabra,” a Garda statement said.
“None of the occupants in the house at the time were injured. Windows at the front of the house were damaged.”
The Garda added that a number of armed units went to the scene on Saturday night and that several searches were undertaken.
The house was sealed off overnight as a crime scene. It underwent an examination by members of the Garda Technical Bureau on Sunday.
A number of eyewitnesses have already come forward and reported seeing a car being driven away at speed about the time of the attack.
Gardaí believe the vehicle used in the attack was dark in colour and say it was possibly an Alfa Romeo, though the model has not been confirmed.
Intended target
Garda sources said a man from the area who has spent time in prison for firearms offences in the past may have been the target.
That man was previously jailed after guns that were hidden outside his house were seized by gardaí.
After the guns were seized he went to gardaí and connected himself to the haul. He later explained in court that he had incriminated himself because he feared the people he was holding the guns for may believe he had sold or stolen them.
He also insisted in court that he did not own the firearms and only agreed to hold them on behalf of criminals in order to pay off a drugs debt of €10,000.
A small quantity of drugs was also seized with the guns.
The man spent about three years in jail on conviction.
Gardaí are now trying to determine if the man was targeted with the drive-by shooting by criminal elements as part of a localised feud.
However, some of the violence in the Kinahan-Hutch gangland feud has also unfolded in Cabra, and gardaí investigating Saturday’s shooting are keeping an open mind on whether the incident could be linked to that dispute.
