Newspapers claim Pete ‘fled’ after tragic shooting
PETE TAYLOR has left the country following a shooting at his gym, according to national papers which have been tracking his movements.
Speaking to the Sunday Times last weekend, Taylor said that he is not involved in crime and that the shooting was an act of ‘intimidation gone wrong’.
He was discharged from hospital and is recovering from injuries sustained in the attack, in which Bobby Messett (50) died an Ian Messett (35) was wounded.
Taylor said that he doesn’t have any idea why ‘anyone would attack the club, myself or any of our members’. He said that there would have been other opportunities to attack him alone - as he left his house or opened or locked the club.
Taylor and his partner Karen Brown have left the house they were renting in Bray. They were photographed in Belfast last week and are now understood to have travelled abroad.
He said that the gunman fired eight times when he entered the club, and only shot Pete Taylor when he attempted to intervene.
‘ The only reason I got caught in the firing line was because I made an attempt to run at him. My natural instinct was to attack back and try to protect my friends,’ he told the Sunday Times.
Meanwhile, Wicklow County Council has taken possession of and secured Bray Boxing Club at the harbour following the tragic events of Tuesday, April 5.
The council said that as owner of the premises, it has a responsibility to ensure the building is restored to a condition fit for community use.
Gardaí in Bray continue to investigate all possibilities with regard to the motive behind the shooting.
They continue to appeal for information regarding the movements of the gunman after he left a van in Poolbeg in Dublin and left that scene by bicycle.
Anyone with information can contact Bray Garda Station on 01 6665300 or the garda confidential line 1800 666111.