Updated 9:15pm
GARDAÍ ARE APPEALING for witnesses to a shooting, where a man was killed and two others injured at a boxing weigh-in at a Dublin hotel, to come forward.
Gardaí have confirmed that shortly before 2.30pm, they received reports of a shooting at the hotel.
There were at least four attackers. Two were wearing SWAT-style police uniforms, including metal helmets, and were armed with assault weapons.
One man was dressed as a woman and was wearing an auburn wig. The other is described as stocky and wearing a beige cap. Both men were armed with handguns.
A video has emerged of the moment the shooting began during the weigh-in. (This video might be distressing to some viewers.)
Three men, all in their 20s or 30s, were injured at the scene.
One of these men was subsequently pronounced dead. Sources have confirmed that he is David Byrne, who was a believed associate of the Kinahan crime gang.
The office of the State Pathologist has been informed and a post mortem examination of the dead man is expected to take place tomorrow.
A short time after the attack a van was found burnt out at the Charlemont Estate in nearby Marino.
The Chief Superintendent Barry O’Brien said tonight that anyone who was at the hotel should come forward:
“We know that there were a considerable number of people present in the Regency Hotel and we are appealing to them to provide any information they may have in relation to the shooting.”
The two other men injured were removed to the Mater and Beaumont hospitals with gunshot wounds. One of those men is critically injured.
“I was staring down the barrel of a gun”
A BBC Foyle journalist who was at the weigh-in, Kevin McAnena, told RTÉ Six One News that he was just after exiting the event and was still in the hotel when there was panic and “pushing and shoving”.
He thought at first that it was a fist fight, but then heard gunshots.
“Two men were there holding AK47 rifles, dressed as gardaí,” he said. He was in the reception area when he saw them shoot a man who was standing about six feet in front of him. McAnena then jumped behind the reception desk.
The gunman “leaned over the desk and pointed the gun” at McAnena. McAnena, who had been shouting “don’t shoot, don’t shoot”, said the man said something to him – which he can’t remember – and then left.
“I was staring down the barrel of a gun,” he told RTÉ. “At this point I think I am going to die. I’ve never been so terrified.”
He said he then went into the reception office with the receptionist, and they stayed there for about an hour. They rang the gardaí who said it was safe for them to come out.
The scene is sealed off and a technical examination of the area is expected to take place.
Gardaí are appealing for anyone who was in the area of the Regency Hotel or may have information, to contact them at Ballymun Garda Station on 01 666 4400.
The Regency Hotel on Drumcondra Road on the city’s northside had been playing host to the weigh-ins for a boxing event in Tallaght tomorrow which will see Gary Corcoran face Danny Butler at the National Basketball Arena.
The event is being promoted by Matthew Macklin’s company MGM and legendary promoter Frank Warren. A representative for Warren’s company told TheJournal.ie that they were unaware of any issue.
A representative for the hotel said they “could not comment”.
Gardaí are also appealing to anyone who was in the area of the Regency Hotel between 2.00 and 2.45 pm, or in the Charlemont Estate at that time, to contact Ballymun Garda Station on 01 666 4400 or the Garda Confidential line 1800 666 111.
- Additional reporting Aoife Barry and Cormac Fitzgerald
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