‘There was blood on his chest and he was clutching his keys in his hand’
A COUNCIL worker has told of his shock after seeing the lifeless body of the latest gangland feud victim slumped in a parked car.
The man, who did not want to be named, said he was the second person to arrive at the scene following the discovery of Michael Keogh’s body.
Keogh (37) was shot in a car park underneath the Sheridan Court council flat complex on Dorset Street in Dublin where he lived.
The Dublin City Council employee told the Irish Independent Keogh could have been shot as he was starting the engine of his car.
“The window of the car was shattered and he was lying across the front seats of the car,” he said.
“There was blood on his chest and he was clutching his car keys in his hands. His hands were on his chest.
“It was just a terrible shock,” he said.
“It looked like he must have been putting his keys in the ignition when he was shot. He was lying across the seats in the car.”
The body was discovered by a caretaker of the council flats complex shortly before 10am.
Keogh was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after as gardaí cordoned the area off to conduct a forensic exam.
A mother-of-three who lived near the victim in the Sheridan Court complex said she often saw him around the area.
“I was just talking to him yesterday. Everything seemed to be okay. He was a quiet man who kept himself to himself,” she said.
“He lived near me. He’s been living here for about a year and a half. He used to park his motorbike in front of the flats.
“I can’t believe it. I never thought anything like that would happen here,” she said.
She added: “My children play on the balcony. I’m relieved that the gunman didn’t come to his flat because there are children all around here. “I don’t feel safe now. “The shooting happened just across the street from Saint Mary’s school. There are a lot of children all around here,” she said.
Keogh’s killing is the latest linked to the deadly Kinahan Hutch gangland feud that has wreaked havoc in Dublin’s north inner city.
An 85-year-old grandmother, who has lived in Sheridan Court for 45 years, said no one should die in such a violent fashion.
She said: “It’s very sad. No mother, whoever they are, should ever have to go through that kind of loss.
“I don’t know what he was shot for, God love him. I feel very sorry for him and his family,” she said.