A MAN was shot dead in front of his young son last night in the second gangland-style shooting in one day. The murder of Declan O’Reilly at about 8pm on the South Circular Road in Dublin, came less than 12 hours after Dubliner Gerard Eglington (27) was shot dead at his home in the Kilnacourt Woods estate in Portarlington, Co Laois.
Declan O’Reilly (32), Parnell Road, Crumlin, Dublin, was shot in the upper body. His son, who is aged 10 years, was with him and was walking just ahead of his father when the gunman struck.
Gardaí believe a gunman got out of a nearby car, fired a number of shots from a handgun at the victim and was then driven at speed from the scene. Mr O’Reilly was taken to St James’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A dark-coloured car was seen leaving the scene and was later found on fire on O’Curry Avenue, a short distance away.
While associated with some of the gang members who have been involved in a feud between rival factions in Crumlin and Drimnagh for more than a decade, gardaí do not believe his murder is feud-related.
The dead man stabbed Derek Glennon (24) to death in Mountjoy Prison in 2007. However, he was acquitted after he said it was self-defence. Gardaí believe his murder last night may have been in revenge for that prison killing.
Mr O’Reilly was shot and wounded in Harolds Cross, Dublin, last September and it was believed at the time that that attack was in revenge for the killing of Glennon. The O’Reilly family had also been targeted in hand-grenade attacks.
In the High Court in February 2011, O’Reilly denied murdering Glennon in a ground floor corridor of Mountjoy in June 2007. The 24-year-old died after being stabbed through the heart, lung, stomach and arm.
The jury viewed CCTV footage of a fight between the two which showed them in a brief struggle, before prison staff arrived on the scene and separated them.
O’Reilly later told gardaí that Glennon had been bullying him for months.
