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Video shows moment shooting begins at boxing weigh-in in Dublin hotel

The attack happened at a boxing tournament weigh-in at the Regency Hotel on Swords Road

Alexandra Sims,Caroline Mortimer
Friday 05 February 2016 16:50 GMT

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Footage has emerged of the moment a deadly shooting began at a boxing weigh-in at a hotel in Dublin.

One man was killed and two others were injured after a shooting the Regency Hotel, near the Irish capital's city centre.

Three men allegedly stormed the foyer of the hotel dressed in “police style” uniforms and armed with what witnesses have said looked like AK-47s, according to the Irish News.

Gardai outside the Regency Hotel in Dublin after one man died and two others were injured following a shooting incident at the hotel PA
Gardai outside the Regency Hotel in Dublin after one man died and two others were injured following a shooting incident at the hotel PA (PA)

The gunmen fled the scene in a van which was later found set alight nearby.

The men injured in the shooting are believed to be in their 20s or 30s.

The Gardai said one of the men has been pronounced dead and they were investigating the incident.

They were called to the scene, along with paramedics and Dublin Fire Brigade, at around 2.30pm on Friday.

The two wounded victims have been rushed to The Mater and Beaumont hospitals with suspected gunshot wounds.

It is believed that a number of gangland figures were expected to be at the weigh-in, and speculation has centred on a feud between Dublin gangsters and an Irish criminal outfit based in southern Spain.

Kevin McAnena, a sports reporter who was covering the weigh-in, said one of two gunmen dressed in Garda-style uniforms pointed a "big, massive" gun at him while he sought cover in the lobby in the heat of the attack.

"I jumped over the reception desk, I think I smashed the vase on my way, then the gunman came over to reception, looked down at me and pointed the gun at me, and I shouted, I was shouting even before he came over 'don't shoot, don't shoot'," he said.

"[The gunman] said something to me but I don't know what he even said, I can't remember at this point, I just know I've never felt terror like it, I was really, really scared and then after that it was just silence."

The weigh-in was ahead of a Clash of the Clans boxing-bout at the National Stadium in the south of the city, scheduled to take place on Saturday evening.

Box Nation - the TV channel due to broadcast the fight - tweeted that it would be cancelling the match.

It said: "Following today's incident at the Dublin weigh in, tomorrow's show from the National Stadium has been cancelled".

The bout was being promoted by Frank Warren and MGM Promotions, a Marbella-based gym run by Birmingham-born Irish boxer Matthew Macklin.

Two years ago, former European light-middleweight boxing champion Jamie Moore was shot twice in the legs in Marbella, where he was training Macklin at the time.

The president of the Boxing Union of Ireland, Mel Christie, - who witnessed the shooting - said they were not targeting the boxers and opened fire on other individuals in the room.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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