Gardaí examining burnt out cars in double-murder probe

Gardaí have said they intend to examine two burnt out cars reported to them overnight to see if they are linked to the double murder of two men in Co. Kildare. The crime figure and an associate from Eastern Europe were murdered in a gangland-style gun attack. The victims, both in their early 30s, were shot at a house on a quiet estate in Kilcock, Co Kildare last night. One of the dead men has been named locally as Andy Barry, a nephew of a Dublin crime boss, who was living in the house in Rochford Avenue. The Eastern European man tried to escape and scaled a wall at the back of the house before falling into a neighbour’s back garden where he was found. Both houses are now crime scenes and have been sealed off for forensic examination. Gardaí said at about 10.10pm at least two men armed with at least two guns got into the house and opened fire on the four men. Two survived: another Irishman aged 31 and a second Eastern European aged 25. Their injuries are not life-threatening. Detectives interviewed the two injured men in hospital this morning as they attempt to piece together the attack. There was no sign of forced entry and it is believed the gunmen were either allowed into the house or found an open door. All four men, who are not related but have been described as associates, were shot in the downstairs area of the house. Gardaí said it is not clear whether the hitmen had planned to shoot all of them or if they knew that there were so many people inside the house. The attackers fled the scene in a car and officers are trawling CCTV footage from Kilcock village and surrounding areas and from the M4 motorway in an attempt to track the car used and the killers’ movements. No firearms have been recovered, a spokesman said. Garda sources said the dead Irish man had gangland links and was known to detectives for involvement in organised crime in the Kildare area. He is believed to be originally from Tallaght, south Dublin and had lived in Maynooth, Co Kildare for a while before moving to Kilcock. Detectives believe the killers cased out the house before launching the attack and may have had the intended target under surveillance. Superintendent John Gilligan of the Garda Press Office has said the gunmen may have been surprised by the number of people in the house at the time and revealed that one of the deceased tried to escape. Gardaí appealed for witnesses who may have seen or heard the shooting to come forward, as well as anyone who may have noticed recent suspicious activity in the estate. Forensic examinations are to be carried out later to determine the firearms used in the attack. Post-mortem examinations on the dead men were being carried out by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Khalid Jabbar at James Connolly Memorial Hospital. Gardaí are investigating whether the murders are linked to another shooting in which a 25-year-old man was injured in Brayton Park, Kilcock last December. Other lines of inquiry include links to a gun attack on a property and shots being fired at a black BMW car, both in Tallaght. A similar style of car was parked outside the Kilcock home today. The dead man from Eastern Europe has not been identified. Several neighbours in the Rochford Avenue area said they heard nothing around the time of the attack. One young father, who did not wish to be identified, said Gardaí had been called to the scene of the killing a number of times in the past. He believed one of the victims had been living at the house, the middle of a small terrace of three in the quiet estate near the local GAA club, for two or three years. “It’s madness,” he said. “I have young children and they play on the green in front of that house.” The man, on his way to work, said he had not seen or heard anything last night until emergency services arrived.

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