Family dives for cover as six shots are fired through front door
A COUPLE who were at home with their two daughters have told how they feared for their lives when a gunman fired six shots through their front door as they dived for cover.
Catherine Doyle (24) and her partner Yusuf Daudi (24) said they did not know why their home in Bray, Co Wicklow, was targeted late on Monday night.
As they try to recover from their ordeal, they told how the shocking incident started when Mr Daudi heard banging on the front door at around 11.40pm.
“We were in the bedroom to the right of the front door and I heard banging on the door,” said Mr Daudi, who is originally from Malawi.
“I wasn’t sure what it was and then there was louder banging, so I looked out through the blinds and all I saw was a man standing there with a handgun.
“He had a scarf over his face and his head was covered – all I could see were his eyes and his hair. He looked young.
“And then he shot through the door, six times, very quickly. I told Catherine to get down and we lay down. The children were asleep in the room with us.”
Ms Doyle said the memory of the shooting would haunt the couple and their two children, Tia (3) and two-year-old Dorophina, forever.
“I can’t get the picture out of my mind,” she told the Irish Independent.
“It was terrifying. I thought ‘what if he gets in’, and I thought we would be killed.”
Mr Daudi said he dreaded to think what would have happened if he had answered the door or if the gunman had sensed him coming toward it.
“I think I would have been shot. I don’t think I would be here right now,” he said.
Asked if the family had any idea why they would be targeted in such a violent incident, the couple said it was a mystery to them.
“The gardaí have asked if we are in trouble, if we have had a fight with anyone, if we have been involved in drugs or had affairs, but the answer is no,” added Mr Daudi.
“We don’t know why this happened.
“We are not involved in anything. There is no reason for this, we have no enemies.”
Ms Doyle said the family have been living in the house on Upper Dargle Road for just a few weeks, having moved from one at the other end of the short terrace of properties.
She added: “But now we can’t live there again – not with the memories of last night.
“We will have to look for somewhere new.” Gardaí in Bray are investigating the incident. A motive for the shooting is not known and officers are trying to establish if it was a case of mistaken identity.