Gardaí investigating the shooting of a well known criminal in west Dublin have found a firearm in a burnt out car.
The body of Mark Desmond, who was originally from the Ballyfermot area, was discovered in open parkland – a large green area surrounded by housing estates - at Griffeen Valley Park, Lucan, on Friday.
Desmond, who was shot a number of times, was seen by a member of the public lying on a pathway in the park and the emergency services were called at approximately 8pm.
Separately, a burning car was reported minutes later some 2km from the scene, at Hayden’s Lane. A suspected firearm was found in the blue Mazda Six.
A source said there were a host of possible suspects for the murder as many people would have wanted to see Desmond dead.
Gardaí are investigating whether the firearm was that used in the incident. A postmortem on the deceased will be carried out on Monday.
Chase
At a press briefing on Saturday, Supt Liam Carolan said he could not comment on reports that the deceased was chased into the park before the shooting. He said Desmond was the father of a number of children.
Supt Carolan appealed to members of the public who were in the Griffeen Valley Park/Hayden’s Lane area between 6 pm and 10pm on Friday and who may have noticed anything suspicious, to get in contacted with the Garda incident room at 01-6667300.
He also appealed to drivers who were in the area and who had dash-cams, or local residents or businesses with CCTV cameras, to contact the Gardaí.
The murdered man was found on a footpath in the park and had suffered a number of gunshot wounds. He died at the scene.
Desmond was well known to the Gardaí and is suspected of involvement in a number of serious crimes, including murder. Some men in a car that arrived at the scene in Lucan last night openly celebrated his death.
Locals reported hearing a number of shots, with one woman saying: “It was just like three bangs – pop, pop, pop.”
She added: “I didn’t really pay attention to it [THE NOISE]because there is a skateboard park just there [beside the crime scene].”
Supt Carolan said there was nothing to suggest body had been in the park for any length of time.
On Friday night, a local man at the scene described how a youth was seen “looking traumatised” and being helped into a Garda car.
“There was about 50 cops in here within minutes, they were looking everywhere,” the onlooker said.
“It just doesn’t happen around here,” said another neighbour.
A vehicle two men was reported speeding in the area around the time of the shooting, although there was no confirmation this was connected to the shooting.
The scene of the shooting and the scene where the burnt out car was found are being preserved for technical examinations.
Murder links
Desmond was well known to gardaí and had been linked to the double murder of two young men - Darren Carey (20) and Patrick Murray (19) whose bodies were found in the Grand Canal in Co Kildare between December 19th, 1999, and January 10th, 2000.
He was charged with the double murder but the charges were later dropped by the DPP.
Minister for Justice and local TD Frances Fitzgerald condemned what she described as the brutal attack, “which is another reminder of the callous disregard for human life displayed by people intent on murder and mayhem”.
She said An Garda Síochána would continue to take every measure to counteract activity of this kind and would have the continued support of the Government in doing so.
