Man in his 20s dies after gangland attack results in shocking case of mistaken identity
Six shots thought to have been fired near capital's financial centre, just metres from a local creche, at a man who may have been wearing the same jacket as the intended target
A MAN has died after being shot multiple times in inner city Dublin today in what was believed to be a case of mistaken identity.
The incident happened on Sheriff Street close to the capital's International Financial Services Centre just after 12:25pm.
The lad, believed to be in his 20s, was rushed to the Mater Hospital but was pronounced dead and hour later.
It is understood six shots were fired at the man just metres away from a local creche.
Sources claim the victim was believed to be from the Bridewell area of the city and was known to sleep rough and had addiction problems.
Gardai claim he was known to them but only for low-level crime.
A spokesperson said: “Gardai in Store Street are investigating a shooting incident that occurred at the Sheriff St, Oriel St junction at approximately 12.30pm.”
The gun attack took place about a mile from where taxi driver Eddie Hutch was shot dead at his home off North Strand in February.
The area of Dublin's north inner city has been home to members of the extended Hutch family for a long time, some of whom have recently become embroiled in an increasingly vicious gangland war with the Kinahans.
The feud has been blamed for a number of gun murders, including one in Spain, two in Dublin and one in Ratoath, Co Meath.
Armed Garda patrols and checkpoints were posted to the Sheriff Street area after the bloody fallout deepened in February with a gun attack at a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in the north of the city.
Before that the area was for years patrolled by armed officers attempting to keep apart two factions of another gang that split.
Sheriff Street is in the shadow of Dublin's IFSC, home to big international banks and the location for massive redevelopment over the last 20 years.
The Hutch-Kinahan feud spiralled into a killing spree when Gary Hutch was shot dead in an apartment complex near Marbella on the Costa del Sol last September.
His killing is believed to have been avenged in the Regency attack which claimed the life of David Byrne, an associate of the Spain-based Kinahan family.
Within days Eddie Hutch was dead and at the end of last month Noel Duggan, an old friend of suspected armed robber Gerry "The Monk" Hutch, was shot dead at his home in Ratoath.