Locals across the Ballymun area say they felt the blast from several streets away after a live grenade was thrown at a property in the middle of Hampton Wood and blew shrapnel in several directions – shortly after midnight on Tuesday morning.
Damage to four houses which where hit by shrapnel when a grenade exploded. (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin)
Gardai fear lives could be lost in an escalating north Dublin feud that has now seen a grenade used in a targeted attack.
Locals across the Ballymun area say they felt the blast from several streets away after the device was thrown at a property in the middle of Hampton Wood and blew shrapnel in several directions – shortly after midnight on Tuesday.
A pot hole near where the device was detonated was still visible the following day – as was significant damage to four properties along the street – and a wall across the road from them. Now sources say gardai have recovered shrapnel which confirms suspicions that the device used was a grenade.
The shocking incident is one of many in a feud between very young criminals which sources say dates back at least two years, escalating into the now-designated murder of local teenager Kevin Kelly last June.
Kevin Kelly (23) was deliberately run over by a car on Balbutcher Lane in the early hours of June 28 – with gardai later designating the killing as a murder. It is now believed that the young man’s angered associates are engaged in a violent, vengeful feud with an opposing faction. This feud has involved firebomb attacks, shots fired, and numerous assault incidents over the past year.
In recent months the gangs have also been openly taunting one another on social media – even threatening to carry out further attacks akin to the one that claimed Mr Kelly’s life.
Sources say there is also significant concern over the fact that those involved – although mostly in their teens – appear to have access to serious weaponry.
This was on display in the early hours of Tuesday when the grenade smashed both downstairs and upstairs windows across the Hampton Wood area.
It also comes within weeks of a child firing a handgun into the air – after it was dropped by a criminal who was being pursued by gardai in the area at the time.
And now a local councillor has warned that it may only be a matter of time before an innocent person is “caught in the crossfire or killed.”
A mark on the road (bottom right) where a grenade exploded in Hampton Wood Square in Ballymun. (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin)
Shrapnel damage to vehicles which were parked close by when a grenade exploded. (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin)
Damage to four houses which where hit by shrapnel when a grenade exploded last night outside a property in Hampton Wood Square in Ballymun. (Image: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin)
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, local People Before Profit Councillor Conor Reddy said the attack was sadly not surprising, given that locals in the area have been subjected to daily incidents amid this spiralling feud.
“It’s shocking but not surprising. We’ve had a feud running on for well over a year now and a more recent escalation in the last month or two. We had the really shocking story of the child who found the gun and fired it and we had a gun found in Coultry Park.
“More unreported have been the daily attacks that people are witnessing: attacks at shops, shots fired at houses, and fire-bombings. It’s really worrying and I think it’s only a matter of time before someone innocent gets caught in the crossfire here and gets seriously hurt or killed,” he said.
Cllr Reddy also told how residents from across the area contacted him about the blast in the early hours of Tuesday . And he told of his and their concerns that enough isn’t being done to tackle the fact that these teenagers appear to have access to firearms and bombs.
“I have heard a lot from residents about what happened last night. I’ve heard from residents who live quite a bit away from Hampton Wood whose windows shook. Like people in Poppintree who heard the blast last night. So it was obviously quite dramatic. It’s been reported to be a grenade. So we’ve got a grenade and 18 year-old lads running around with semi-automatic weapons.
“It’s shocking and I don’t think it’s being treated with the seriousness that it deserves. We need to see an immediate response to offer security and peace of mind locally but I think we need to look at why we’re in this situation and why young people are caught in this cycle of crime and violence.”
Cllr Reddy said he is aware that the gangs involved are seeing children as young as 10 and 12 years of age being groomed into working for them. From the ages of 15-16 they are deeply involved in the drugs trade, he says.
“Unfortunately some of the families involved here are the same families who were involved in the heroin trade of the 1980s. So there’s a cycle here of recriminalisation and there’s not really been much in the way to tackle that and break the cycle,” he added.
Gardai have now designated the death of Kevin Kelly as a murder.
Damage to vehicles which were parked close by when a grenade exploded.(Image: Colin Keegan, Collins, Dublin)
Kevin Kelly
Cllr Reddy also spoke about the murder of Kevin Kelly – a killing that is now being directly linked to this feud. He told of his concerns that it took some time for the incident to be designated a murder.
“It took the guards a while to formally designate the death of Kevin Kelly a murder. It’s now publicly acknowledged that there is a murder investigation but it took them a long time and they failed to address that,” he said.
Gardai are understood to know many of the main players involved in the feud – and in recent months have stepped up armed patrols in the area.
Last month suspects were arrested in relation to a shocking incident in which a gun was dropped by a criminal who was being pursued by gardai – only for it to be picked up and fired by a child believed to be as young as 10 years old.
The incident began when officers were alerted to a man standing outside Ballymun Garda Station with a suspected handgun. The man is suspected to have been an associate of another who was at that point being held for questioning.
It is understood officers approached the gunman who then fled – and they gave chase. However the quick thinking thug managed to throw the suspected handgun into bushes during the dramatic chase through the area.
The gun is then believed to have been picked up by a child who fired the weapon into the air. Thankfully nobody was injured during the shooting incident.
Officers were not present for this as they continued to pursue the man – eventually catching up to him and discovering he had discarded the gun.
Gardai suspect that the weapon was then taken by two men who were seen in the area on an electric bike at the time. The incident sparked a major alert – with armed gardai and the Garda Dog Unit drafted in to search for the weapon.
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