Updated 7.45pm
SPANISH POLICE ARE continuing to investigate a shooting on the island of Majorca last night, which left Irishman Trevor O’Neill dead.
The shooting is believed to be related to the ongoing Kinahan-Hutch gangland feud but O’Neill is not thought to have been the intended target.
The 40-year-old man from Drimnagh was shot in the back just after 9pm in Costa de la Calma, around 15 miles west of the island’s capital Palma.
Three men are believed to have been involved. The Diario de Mallorca reports that up to four shots were fired near the Carrer Huguet des Far street, and that O’Neill was afterwards taken to the Espases University hospital in Palma where he was pronounced dead.
It’s believed he and his family were socialising at the time of his death with a figure affiliated with the Hutch family. The shooting is thought to have been a case of mistaken identity.
O’Neill’s partner Suzanne told RTÉ News their children are petrified after witnessing their father being killed.
She said the family were on their way to a restaurant when he was shot.
“I saw a man walking up wearing a hoodie. I thought it was strange because it was roasting. I saw him pull out a gun.”
The family have been under police escort since the incident.
‘Craven henchmen’
The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Brendan Carr, expressed his condolences to the family.
“Trevor was a man who served his community as a hard-working employee of Dublin City Council and his death has left all those who serve our city in a state of shock.
The brutal and appalling manner in which his life was taken, while he holidayed with his family in Spain, must mark a watershed in the fight against the scourge of organised criminal violence in our city, which would now seem to even stalk its citizens when they are abroad.
“If initial reports are correct and this murder is the result of an ongoing criminal feud that has already resulted in numerous deaths in Dublin it marks a new low in its growing list of atrocities.
“In response we must unite together and resolutely stand up to the diabolical puppet masters and their craven henchmen whose actions are bringing such misery,” Carr said.
‘Shock’
Speaking to TheJournal.ie earlier, Dublin city councillor Daithí de Róiste said the community in which O’Neill lived is feeling “shock, heartbreak and real awe that this has happened”.
“This was an innocent man on holidays with his family. The amount of families who go on holidays in Spain and in Portugal and to think you could be gunned down in such a callous way in front of your family is horrible.
To be gunned down because of who you’re talking to – for me that’s out of control. Innocent people are being killed – poor Trevor isn’t the first innocent person to be killed.
De Róiste said he does not believe gardaí are “getting a handle” on the problem and suggested they should bring in international expertise.
Brendan Kenny, CEO of Dublin City Council, released a statement this afternoon, saying he was “shocked” to learn of O’Neill’s death.
Trevor was a hard-working and dedicated employee of Dublin City Council.
“On behalf of the management team, city councillors and staff of Dublin City Council, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to Trevor’s family and friends.”
‘Very safe’
The mayor of the Majorcan resort has sought to reassure locals and tourists by describing the shooting as an “isolated case”.
Andreu Serra described Calvia, the municipality which covers Costa de la Calma and Magaluf, as “very safe”.
He said the fact the shooting was so unusual showed that local police and other forces of law and order were “very prepared for these type of situations”.
He also described the work of the local police, who he said were first to arrive, as “impeccable”, claiming they secured the crime scene in an operation that could have proved invaluable in collecting potential evidence.
Up to three men are understood to be sought by police in connection with the killing, with the island’s ports on lockdown to prevent any escape.
There are understood to be multiple witnesses to the shooting.
The killing is the eighth in this feud, since the shooting of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch’s nephew Gary in Marbella last September.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it is providing consular assistance.
A garda spokesman could not confirm whether or not the force is aiding Spanish police in its investigation, but said gardaí would be “happy to comply” with any request for assistance from the Spanish authorities.
- With reporting by Gerard Couzens, Michelle Hennessy and Órla Ryan
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