Saturday March 14 2009
SEALED OFF: The murder scene in Tymon North Park after the gang shootingFROM PAGE ONE
blood in Tymon North in Tallaght.
The short-lived truce was brokered before Christmas by the mothers of two victims and two local priests and had been in place for three months.
O'Byrne of Lansdowne Valley, Drimnagh, was the right-hand man of one of the gang leaders in the Crumlin-Drimnagh feud which has claimed 15 lives in the past nine years.
Last night, gardai arrested three men in the Crumlin area. They are being detained at Rathfarnham and Tallaght Garda Stations under section 30 of The Offences Against The State Act.
One man is in his late teens and the other two are in their mid-twenties.
weapon
It is understood the couple arrived in Tymon North at approximately 8.30pm. Shortly afterwards, a second car arrived, believed to be carrying two men. A row erupted between the victim and the second party at which point O'Byrne fled his car after shots were fired.
The gunman, believed to be a passenger in the second car, opened fire and shot the victim three times in the back.
He died at the scene shortly afterwards.
His body remained at the scene overnight. The State Pathologist was called this morning and forensic examinations got underway.
It is believed that a gun has been found at the scene by gardai, which may have been the murder weapon.
A silver car was seen leaving the scene shortly after the incident.
A car answering this description was stopped some time later by gardai on the Derry Road in Crumlin.
Two men were in the car and were arrested by gardai. Both men were detained in Rathfarnham Garda Station. A third man was picked up in the same area a short time later.
It is understood that Sharon Rattigan discharged herself from Tallaght Hospital where she was being treated for a gunshot wound to the leg.
Gardai now fear the latest killing will ignite a bloody spate of tit-for-tat murders and the end to a fragile ceasefire between two of the city's most dangerous factions in the long running rivalry.
O'Byrne's death brings to eight, the number of people gunned down in gangland shootings this year. The latest victim -- originally from the Lansdowne Valley in Drimnagh -- was second in command on the Drimnagh side of the feud.
He is understood to have been living with Sharon Rattigan at the Tymon address and was targeted as the couple either arrived or left the house. Neighbours reported hearing a burst of gunfire at around 8.30pm and hearing screaming in the street.
"It's terrible, there is no respect for human life any more," said one woman.
"The gardai and ambulance were on the scene very quickly, but I hear he died almost instantly. I don't know who they are but it is an awful thing to happen," she added.
Sharon Rattigan, originally from Cooley Road in Drimnagh, was rushed to Tallaght hospital. Gardai today confirmed that O'Byrne died in the driveway of the home he had moved into with Sharon Rattigan recently.
Local people also said they believed that Rattigan had been struck with a weapon by the gunman before being shot.
O'Byrne is believed by gardai to have ordered three killings in the ongoing war with the Drimnagh gang in the past.
He received a two-year suspended sentence in 2007 for ramming two garda vans while drink-driving in 2004.
In 2005 he was fined for violent disorder in an incident when an associate drove a car into a taxi driver who had acted as a Good Samaritan by trying to save a colleague from an assault.
Distraught relatives arrived at the scene where the body of the murdered man lay covered by a sheet in the front garden to await the arrival of State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy.
Today the area remained cordoned off as a garda forensics team began an examination of the area and house-to-house inquiries.
pavement
A silver-coloured family saloon was partially covered by a forensic tent in the driveway of the house.
A black Saab parked on the street outside had its registration plate covered also.
Gardai immediately appealed to the public for information and asked anyone who may have been in the area at the time to contact Tallaght station on 01 6666000.
hnews@herald.ie
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