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Gunmen shoot boxing fans at Dublin hotel; 1 dead, 2 wounded Gunmen shoot boxing fans at Dublin hotel; 1 dead, 2 wounded
(about 2 hours later)
DUBLIN — Gunmen disguised as police opened fire Friday on boxing fans at a Dublin hotel, killing one man and wounding two others in an attack that could reflect tensions within Ireland’s criminal underworld. DUBLIN — Gunmen wearing disguises opened fire on boxing fans at a Dublin hotel Friday, killing one man and wounding two others in an attack that could reflect tensions within Ireland’s top cocaine-smuggling gang.
Fans attending the weigh-in ceremonies for two weekend boxing competitions fled in terror as the men, both believed to be armed with assault rifles, opened fire in the lobby of the Regency Hotel. Fans attending the weigh-in ceremonies for a Dublin boxing event fled in terror as at least one group of gunmen opened fire inside the Regency Hotel.
Police identified the victims as men in their 20s or 30s. One was declared dead at the scene, while two others were hospitalized with serious gunshot wounds. Mel Christle, president of the Boxing Union of Ireland, said the gunfire started within seconds of the final weigh-in ceremony. He said he saw one gunman, holding a handgun and dressed as a woman, flee through the crowd as two others dressed as policemen opened fire in the lobby. Other witnesses said at least one of those attackers was armed with an assault rifle.
Two detectives told The Associated Press it was too early to specify any motive, but cited the deadly feuding between gangland factions as one possibility. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make statements. Christle, who was still at the event podium in a conference room off the lobby, said more than 200 fans — among them many young children and relatives of the boxers — ran or fell to the ground as others fleeing gunfire in the hotel lobby ran through the ceremony. He said the attack involved the targeting of specific individuals.
A headliner in Saturday’s boxing bouts was Jamie Kavanagh, whose father — a convicted drug dealer — was shot to death in Spain in 2014. The elder Kavanagh was a senior gangland figure with roots in northern Dublin; that gang has waged a years-long feud with a rival gang from Clondalkin on Dublin’s west side. “There’s no doubt about that. This was not indiscriminate,” Christle said in a phone interview.
The younger Kavanagh was due to fight Joao Bento for the vacant WBO European lightweight title. Kavanagh’s promoter, Frank Warren, was expected to issue a statement later Friday. Christle said as the crowd cleared and he exited the ballroom, he could see the slain man’s body slumped beside the hotel reception desk. “He was riddled,” he said.
Police said two other men were hospitalized with gunshot wounds. They said all three victims, men in their 20s or 30s, were believed to be members of the same group.
Detectives said it was too early to specify a motive. But suspicion immediately fell on a deadly criminal feud involving the family of the boxer headlining Saturday’s planned fight, Jamie Kavanagh.
The 25-year-old Dubliner was scheduled to contest the vacant WBO European lightweight title Saturday night. It was to be his first fight in Dublin since the gangland killings of his father, Gerard, and uncle Paul, both of whom were henchmen in the drug-smuggling empire of Christy Kinahan.
Gerard Kavanagh was gunned down inside an Irish bar in Spain’s Costa del Sol in September 2014. Paul Kavanagh was shot to death behind the wheel of his parked car in Dublin in March 2015. Both men were suspected of pocketing money being collected from Dublin dealers on behalf of Kinahan’s Spain-based cocaine empire.
BoxNation, the British cable channel promoting Saturday’s bout, said in a tweet that the event had been cancelled.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.