TWO DEAD IN DUBLIN SHOOTING
FEMALE VICTIM WAS SISTER OF INTENDED TARGET
A TODDLER had a miracle escape in a double gangland murder in Dublin which left a mother-of-six dead and another man fatally wounded.
Antoinette Corbally-Devoy (48) and a man in his 30s were shot by two men armed with a handgun and a sub-machine gun, who opened fire outside a house in Balbutcher Drive, Ballymun, yesterday afternoon.
Up to 20 shots were fired during the attack and detectives have not yet been able to establish the identity of the dead man.
It has emerged the intended target of the shooting was Derek Devoy (37), who managed to escape the shooting uninjured.
He is the sister of murdered Antoinette.
It can also be revealed that Devoy was holding a young toddler in his arms when the two gunmen approached him and opened fire.
Devoy’s brother, Michael Devoy (41), was shot dead by the Kinahan cartel in January 2014.
Detectives yesterday interviewed the intended target, Derek Devoy, about the double murder.
Devoy threw the young child out of his arms and fled through the rear of the house, jumping over a back wall.
The child received a minor bump to its head but was not seriously injured.
The fatally injured man — who has not yet been formally identified — had arrived at the home on Balbutcher Drive just moments before the shooting.
He was shot in the head as he sat in a car parked on the driveway.
As the gunmen opened fire at the property, Ms Corbally-Devoy was hit and fatally wounded.
Two other people — Brian Moran (52) and Andrea Corbally-Devoy (18) — were also injured.
Moran received a gunshot wound to his leg while the teenager was grazed by a stray bullet.
They are being treated at Dublin’s Mater Hospital. The killers, who used a sub-machine gun and a handgun, then jumped into a silver Opel Zafira which they attempted to set on fire, but failed to do so.
They then ran to a waiting Golf GTI and fled the area, before partially torching the vehicle in the Santry Close area.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and armed gardai flooded the area.
Investigating detectives believe the double murder is linked to a bitter local drug dispute in the area which has seen several shootings and pipe-bomb incidents carried out.
Earlier this year three teenagers were injured in a gun attack believed to be linked to the ongoing feud.
Another young man survived an attempt on his life earlier this year as part of the feud.
A source said last night: “This feud has been ongoing for the last years and there was always a fear this would escalate.
“However, the killing of two people in broad daylight could not be foreseen and is a seriously concerning development.”
Chief Supt Lorraine Wheatley said a firearm believed to have been used in the shooting had been recovered.
Ms Wheatley said the fatally wounded female was a mother to six children. Irish Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan last night expressed his outrage at the double murder which he described as “totally unacceptable”.