Gardai investigating the shooting of seven people at a football match in Clondalkin, Dublin, yesterday believe the gunmen may have been targeting a single individual.
Det Supt Tony Sourke of Clondalkin Garda station, who is leading the investigation, said the attack was not indiscriminate. One line of inquiry being pursued is that the target was a spectator who fled the scene after the gunmen opened fire.
Seven people were injured, one of whom was still receiving treatment last night in St James's Hospital, where he was said to be in a stable condition. The other six, including team players, a spectator and the referee, were discharged after being treated for pellet wounds to the head and body.
The attack occurred at 1.20 p.m. at the end of a senior cup game at playing fields at Bawnogue, just off the Nangor Road. The two teams, Bawnogue Boys and Dublin Celtic, both from the locality, were standing in the centre of the pitch in preparation for a penalty shoot-out when two masked men on a black Yamaha motorbike drove on to the pitch. The pillion passenger produced a sawn-off shotgun from a bag on his lap and discharged two shots. at the crowd.
Among those hit were three players on the Bawnogue team: the goalkeeper, Mr Keith Bennett (21), from Millcourt Road; Mr Eddie Kehoe (20), from Deansrath Avenue, and Mr Stephen Grogan (21), from Deansrath Grove.
The manager of the club's under-10 team, Mr Rory Kelly, received a serious pellet wound to the lower back. The referee received a wound to his ankle, while a player and a supporter of the other team were also injured. The motorbike raced off in the direction of Kilmahuddrick Road, where further shots were fired.
More than 50 people, including children, had been watching the game. Many took refuge behind a ditch on the sidelines.
Mr Brian Moorhouse, manager of Bawnogue Boys, said: "We were in a semi-circle and I was picking out who would take the penalties when the bike came straight at us. They were out to do damage, there's no doubt. It's a frightening experience, especially when you consider there were young kids watching the game. How nobody was killed is beyond me."
Det Supt Sourke said: "We're pursuing a lot of avenues but there's very little we haven't followed up at this stage." He added that while the gunmen "came with a purpose, they created total pandemonium and endangered a lot of people in the process".
Witness statements have been taken from players, and door-to-door inquiries are under way.
The Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dr McDaid, said it was "an outrageous assault on people in a local community out enjoying a game of football on a Sunday afternoon. I extend my sympathy to those who were injured and, indeed, to all attending the game, who must have been upset and frightened by this reckless attack."
Mr Pat Quigley, president of the Football Association of Ireland, said it was "quite appalling that such a serious incident in which lives could have been lost should occur at a sporting fixture".
