THE TWO brothers shot dead in a gangland attack on Monday night were both wounded in the head and upper body, a postmortem examination has revealed.
Garda sources said they were investigating if machine guns or other automatic weapons were used by the killers.
Gardaí believe Kenneth (32) and Paul Corbally (35) had been sitting in their Lexus car on Neilstown Road, west Dublin, near the Neilstown shopping centre for some time on Monday night before being shot dead at 8pm.
A silver Audi A6 pulled up alongside with at least two occupants inside, and possibly a third.
Two of the men, both armed, got out of the Audi and opened fire on the Corballys’ car. The brothers, from Drumfinn Avenue, Ballyfermot, west Dublin, were hit in the head and upper body.
The gunmen got back into their car and sped from the scene. A 14-year-old local boy who was sitting in the back of the Corballys’ car was wounded in the arm and upper body.
He managed to flee the area and make his way to Tallaght hospital where he was still being treated last night. Gardaí are satisfied he was completely innocent and was not the target of the gunmen.
The boy was spoken to by gardaí yesterday and will be interviewed at length as a witness when his condition improves. His wounds are not life threatening.
Assistant Commissioner, Mick Feehan, who is in charge of policing in Dublin, said he wanted to make it clear to the people of west Dublin that gardaí were continually tackling organised gangs.
Gardaí had the “commitment, the will and the resources” to confront gangs engaged in drug dealing and gun crime and were determined to solve the latest killings.
Mr Feehan and Supt Pat Clavin, who is leading the double murder investigation team – based at Ronanstown Garda station – said the Garda needed information from the community to help solve Monday night’s killings.
They said a silver Audi 6 car found burned out in the Foxborough estate a mile from the murder scene on Neilstown Road in Clondalkin, was used by the killers. The car had been fitted with a false taxi roof sign and false registration plates with the number 00 KE 13498.
Supt Clavin said the investigating team wanted to speak to anyone who saw the car in Clondalkin village or Neilstown Road from 5pm to the time of the murder at 8pm. He said members of the public may also have seen the car on the Fonthill Road or in Foxborough.
The Corbally brothers were well known to gardaí and were leading members of a drugs gang in Ballyfermot. They were involved in a long-running drugs turf war with a more established gang from the area.
Gardaí had warned the brothers on several occasions that intelligence had emerged which suggested the rival gang was planning to kill them.
The feud between the gangs had escalated in recent times. Recently when a leading member of the rival gang was attacked in an attempted shooting, the Corballys emerged as suspects.
Last year, members of the rival factions were drinking in the same Ballyfermot pub when they became involved in a mass fight.
When gardaí arrived at the scene, they found up to 20 people involved in the disturbance.
They were carrying a variety of weapons such as knives, broken glasses and broken bottles. It is understood a hatchet-type weapon was also wielded.
The gang that has now emerged as the chief suspects for Monday night’s double murder is led by a Ballyfermot man.
He is regarded as one of the biggest drug dealers in west Dublin and has been involved in serious gangland crime since the mid 1990s. He had links at that time to some members of the John Gilligan gang. A number of men who remain his close associates were jailed for possessing drugs worth hundreds of thousands of euro in the early 1990s when such large seizures were less frequent.
As well as drug dealing, the gang leader has been involved in money lending, extortion and money laundering. He has at least 15 convictions.
SHOT DEAD THIS YEAR:
June 22nd –Remains of Helen Donegan (30, above), Celbridge, Co Kildare, found in the boot of a car in a garage near Newcastle, Dublin. Missing for seven weeks, she had been shot. One man has been charged with murder.
May 31st –The remains of Lee Slattery (24), Ballynanty, Limerick city, found in a shallow grave near the Moyross estate. Shot in the head, drug related.
April 23rd –Notorious gang leader Eamon Dunne (34, above), Finglas, Dublin, shot dead in a Cabra pub as he attended a 40th birthday party. Drug related.
March 21st –Séamus McMahon (41), shot dead in an apartment at Saltdown, Dundalk, Co Louth. Believed to be linked to a personal matter.
February 22nd –Daniel Treacy (35) shot dead on his bread delivery round at a service station just outside Limerick city. One man charged with murder.
February 20th –Aiden Byrne (32), from Dublin's north inner city, shot dead on Drumalee Avenue, North Circular Road. A convicted rapist, he was involved in a gangland feud.
February 16th –Christopher Emmet (21), shot dead at his home at Fortlawn Park, Blanchardstown, Dublin, with a legally held shotgun. One man charged with reckless discharge of a firearm.
January 20th -Convicted drug dealer Gerard Stanton shot dead leaving his home at Westlawn, off Sarsfield Road, Cork. Real IRA claimed the killing.
January 16th -Noel Deans (27, above), Blunden Drive, Coolock, Dublin, shot dead on Ferrycarrig Road, Coolock. He was a drug user and petty criminal.
January 10th –Paddy Cooney (58) and Brendan Molyneux (46) gunned down at Mr Mooney's flat off Pearse Street in Dublin. One man charged with murder.
January 9th –The remains of drug dealer JP Joyce (30), Grove Lane, Coolock, Dublin, found dumped in a ditch near Dublin airport. Shot in the head by a Finglas drugs gang.