Dissident republicans were blamed last night for the murder of a 35-year-old father of six children who was shot in west Belfast yesterday morning. The victim was named locally as Daniel McGurk from Ross Road in the Lower Falls area.
Mr McGurk was fatally wounded by two gunmen who called to his house around 11 a.m. yesterday. He was brought to the nearby Royal Victoria Hospital but died later from his injuries.
His wife Patsy and some of his six children aged from 18 months to about 16 years were in the house at the time and witnessed the shooting, locals said.
Dissident republicans were immediately blamed for the killing with the main suspicion falling on the Real IRA.
Republican, nationalist and security sources said that the man had become embroiled in a disagreement with dissident republicans last week. There was some speculation that Mr McGurk died as a result of a "punishment shooting that went wrong".
However Mr McGurk suffered chest as well as leg and ankle wounds, indicating that the intention was either to kill or seriously injure him or if it was a "punishment" attack, it went out of control. Normally in even the most vicious of such attacks the victim is shot in the knees and/or ankles.
One provisional republican source said that the Real IRA carried out the attack. He and other sources said that Mr McGurk was attacked last week by a number of men and that on Saturday he had made it known that he wanted to challenge his assailants. One security source said his killers appeared "to have got their retaliation in first".
Another nationalist source said the word locally was that the Real IRA was responsible. "I was told that he was beaten up last week by dissident republicans and those responsible said, 'we will be back to shoot you'," the source said.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has launched a murder inquiry and appealed for public assistance in apprehending Mr McGurk's killers.
Police investigating the scene came under attack from stone-throwing youths yesterday.
Local Sinn Féin councillor Mr Fra McCann, expressing sympathy to Mr McGurk's family, said local people were shocked at the killing. "There can be no possible excuse or justification for the murder of this man," said Mr McCann.
Ms Margaret Walsh, a local SDLP councillor, said that Mrs McGurk and her family were in a deep state of shock. "Those responsible for this attack are murderers - they have left a wife without her husband, six children without their father and parents without their son," she said.
"This attack was a brutal affront to this man's fundamental human rights and those responsible must be brought to justice. My sincere sympathy goes out to the family of Mr McGurk and I ask anyone with any information on this incident to please contact the police," added Ms Walsh.