Gardai launch appeal for information following murder of Lucan father-of-two John Gibson
By Aura McMenamin
Gardai have issued an appeal for witnesses following the murder of a man in Citywest on Monday night.
The deceased, John Gibson, was sitting in his car in the Citywest Shopping Centre car park, when at approximately 9.20pm, another vehicle entered the car park.
Mr Gibson, a 28-year-old father of two from Lucan, was shot multiple times near the Eddie Rockets restaurant, and it is believed he was shot while trying to flee the scene.
His car, a silver audi, was left at the scene until this afternoon.
A second car, believed by gardai to have been used in the murder, was found burned out in the nearby Verschoyle area of Saggart Abbey.
At a press briefing on Tuesday morning, Superintendent Peter Duff refused to confirm or deny whether Mr Gibson’s death was linked to last week’s murder of Darragh Nugent in Clondalkin.
Superintendent Duff said: “We don’t know why Mr Gibson was here. We’re keeping all options open. We’re not linking it to anything or ruling anything out at this stage.
Superintendent Duff said that the car used in the attack, believed to be a white Volkswagen Caddy, was found burned out in Verschoyle close to the scene.
The area was attended by the Garda Technical Unit and state pathologist. Mr Gibson’s body was removed from the scene on Tuesday morning at 11.50am.
Two women left two bouquets of flowers at a wall along the perimeter of the car park. A note of condolences from both women read: “Love you to the moon and back” and “What a gentle giant. Love always.”
The superintendent said: “Irrespective of any other fact, I think we’ve got to keep cognisant of the fact that a 28-year old man died here last night and two children today are left without a father.”
He said that Gardai were anxious to speak to anyone who driving down the N82 or in the shopping centre from 8pm onwards on Monday night.
The front of the shopping centre is lined with late-night fast food restaurants and is a popular spot for teenagers to hang out in the evening.
One woman told The Echo: “My own sixteen-year-old hangs out at the McDonald’s on the other end. A lot of teenagers do. Something could have happened to them.”
A KFC worker was working last night at the time of the shooting, as well as this morning. She said that Monday night’s shooting, coupled with a recent robbery at the Citywest KFC made her feel unsafe about working at night.
She said: “We didn’t even hear the shooting happening last night. I didn’t think about how unsafe I felt working here until now.”
Another employee at the KFC, who lives in Tallaght said he was at the scene of the murder shortly before it occurred: “Me and some others were eating in the KFC and roughly about an hour later is when this went down.
He condemned last night’s shooting in a popular family spot: “I have members of staff that I work with and they’re my primary responsibility for safety. Normal members of the general public are going about their business, going shopping with their kids, placing bets.”
“The people that do this have no regard for human life. It’s cold. They don’t care who gets caught in the crossfire.”
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