WATCH: Horror moment bullets miss 11-year-old boy by INCHES in shocking Limerick drive-by shooting

Published: 13:17, 12 June 2026 | Updated: 13:17, 12 June 2026 THIS is the terrifying moment an 11-year-old boy was almost hit by a bullet fired from a car in a drive-by shooting linked to an ongoing gang feud. The shocking incident occurred in the Hyde Road area of Limerick city, prompting the return of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) to patrol the streets. Sources said the shooting is linked to a bitter feud that has erupted between rival descendants of the notorious McCarthy-Dundon gang, many of whose leaders were jailed over a decade ago for murders and gang-related activities in the city. It is understood the shooters were targeting the home of State witness April Collins, whose testimony resulted in the downfall of the Dundon faction. The video shows two adults and the 11-year-old standing outside a house ducking for cover as shots are fired just above their heads. Plaster can be seen flying off the wall when the bullet hit the building as a dark-coloured car speeds past. Gardaí believe the boy and the two adults were lucky to escape with their lives. However, sources said the garda investigation into the shooting – which occurred at lunchtime on May 22 – has been hampered by a code of ‘omerta’ [code of silence] among the feuding criminals. Amid fears children or innocent bystanders could get caught in the crossfire of an increasingly volatile ‘turf war’, the ERU is back patrolling streets in the area. One source familiar with the investigation said they are faced with an ‘impossible’ situation where there is ‘no co-operation’ from intended victims. They told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘As per normal business, there has been no co-operation. ‘In this latest shooting, they actually went out and cleaned up the casings from the bullets before the guards arrived. ‘Someone could easily have been killed in this latest gun attack.’ Around 20 people living on the kilometre-long stretch of road where the shooting occurred have been warned their lives are at potential risk as a result of the escalating feud between the warring Collins and O’Donoghue factions. The MoS has previously revealed how eight child foot soldiers – or ‘penny boys’ as they are known in Limerick – have been noted in a dossier compiled by gardaí. Some of these children, aged between just 11 and 16, are descendants of known criminals who have been enticed and coerced into the drugs turf war in the Hyde Road/Ballinacurra Weston and Southill areas of Limerick. A source this weekend described the situation in the city as ‘volatile’ and added ‘almost everyone’ on the Hyde Road has received a Garda Information Message [GIM] – an official warning given to individuals whose life may be in danger – since the beginning of last year.  They told the MoS: ‘Since the start of 2025, we have up to 20 GIM forms handed out.’ Sources said the latest gang war in the city erupted when the O’Donoghue gang began ‘muscling in’ to fill the ‘void’ left behind by the notorious Dundon brothers – Wayne, John, Dessie, and Ger – who are all currently serving extensive prison sentences in Ireland and the UK for a range of serious crimes. The O’Donoghue faction have been involved in a ‘tit-for-tat’ with a remaining member of the McCarthy-Dundon gang, and also the rival Collins family. A source told the MoS: ‘The Dundons were once brothers-in-arms with the Collins until the split when [State witness] April Collins gave evidence against them. ‘The O’Donoghues are now muscling in – and it has been extremely volatile. We’ve had the Emergency Response Unit back on the streets as tensions heighten.’ In an indication of the scale of the tit-for-tat violence in the Hyde Road area, a source this weekend said the ‘violent feud’ that has taken place on Limerick’s southside over the past three years has seen ‘26 incidents of discharge of firearms and 70 incidents in total’. Just over a year ago, on May 8, two masked men in a stolen Audi staged a drive-by shooting on the same street, firing nine shots indiscriminately at houses, including April Collins’ home. More shots were fired at another home linked to the Collins family on the Hyde Road in November 2024, which were followed by two separate attacks on the same street in January last year. In 2012, there was hope that the violent territorial feud between the city’s key drug suppliers, the rival McCarthy-Dundon and Keane-Collopy gangs had been quenched.  Key members of the Dundon family were jailed after Ms Collins’s evidence sealed the case for the State. Key members of the Dundon family were jailed after April Collins’s evidence sealed the case for the State She moved away from Hyde Road following the court case but returned in late 2023. Meanwhile, ‘vulnerable’ children growing up in the area are now being ‘sucked’ into a new generation of feuding.  The children are primarily used for money laundering and have become entrenched to the point schools in the area are now considered potential ‘flash points’. A source previously told the MoS: ‘Gardaí have a had a uniform presence at the school they attend since the start of the school year each morning.  It has kicked off at school and the uniform presence is considered necessary.’ The current feud has its roots in the demise of the old McCarthy-Dundon gang. In 2012, two of Limerick’s most infamous criminals, siblings Wayne and John Dundon, were jailed after being found guilty at the Special Criminal Court for threatening to kill three members of the Collins family. Gang-related violence in the city eased significantly with the end of the feud between the McCarthy-Dundons and the Keane-Collopy and the Ryan gangs.  But now violence has returned to the same streets with a fresh round of deadly attacks in recent months. Sources said April Collins – the former partner of Wayne and John Dundon’s brother Ger, and mother to his three children – remains a prime target. April Collins – the former partner of Wayne and John Dundon’s brother Ger, and mother to his three children – remains a prime target The pair split in 2011, and shortly afterwards Ms Collins began a relationship with Thomas O’Neill, who was one of four youths and an adult man who raped a woman at Cratloe Woods, Co. Clare in 2004. The former State witness was initially placed under 24-hour armed guard after she testified in court.  Ms Collins no longer has garda protection but informed sources familiar with the feud have described her as a ‘target’ in the latest shootings.  In October 2023, shots were fired at her father’s home in the city, while there have been arson attacks on cars and houses on the Hyde Road. In February, a lone attacker was caught on CCTV throwing a pipe bomb over a wall into the rear of Ms Collins’s father’s home. It exploded but caused no injuries. Between February and April, the bomb disposal unit has been deployed on multiple occasions following the seizure of pipe bombs. Feuding gangs are recording their crimes on phones and then sharing the videos on TikTok.  One video in May 2025 showed a masked male, who was wearing gloves, indiscriminately firing rounds from a semi-automatic handgun at homes. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. 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