Three men opened fire on a boxing weigh-in, killing one and injuring two more at The Regency in Dublin, Ireland on Friday afternoon. The men were dressed as Garda Emergency Response Unit (national police force of Ireland) and were carrying AK47s.
The terrifying moments when the gunmen opened fire were captured on video (no injuries were captured on the video below)
According to The Independent, two gunmen were inside the hotel and a third was seen outside shouting at passersby. Early reports say the three gunmen had their faces covered, but the voices were heard with strong Dublin accents. All three managed to flee the scene in a van, and an investigation is underway.
One person has been killed and two injured in a #shooting at the Regency Hotel in Dublin https://t.co/DrASguW4M3 https://t.co/J1QsBmWr3U
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 5, 2016
The boxing weigh-in was for an MGM-promoted boxing event, Clash of the Clans, with Jamie Kavanagh and Joao Bento headlining the event for the WBO European Lightweight Title. There is no indication the event will be postponed.
This is just the latest in a long line of incidents involving gun violence in Dublin. In 2009, the gun violence rate in Dublin was comparable to the levels seen in Washington D.C. The city with a population of 1.2 million had 19 gun murders by early November. The significantly high gun violence rate in Dublin was more than twice of the rate in London and led one publisher to refer to Dublin as the gun murder capital of Europe.
Last September, The Irish Times reported possession of firearms increased by 21 percent over the previous year, although the same report said gun discharges have dropped two percent.
