A JOURNALIST who witnessed the shocking gun attack at a Dublin boxing weigh-in said he "never felt terror like it" when one of the attackers pointed an AK-47 at him.
Four heavily-armed gunmen - including two wearing police swat-style uniforms and one disguised as a woman - burst into the foyer of the Regency Hotel in Drumcondra at around 2.30pm on Friday, killing one man and seriously injuring two others.
The dead man was named as 34-year-old Dubliner David Byrne, an associate of the notorious Kinahan crime gang.
One of the two injured men was believed to be Daniel Kinahan, son of crime boss Christy Kinahan.
BBC Radio Foyle reporter Kevin McAnena was leaving the weigh-in for a now-cancelled fight at the National Stadium when he saw one of the gunmen shoot a man in the leg "about six feet away" from him.
He said he also heard shots outside the hotel and saw two men apparently dressed as gardaí come into the lobby.
"The man that I saw being shot in the leg is the man that is now dead," he said.
Mr McAnena said he jumped over the hotel's reception desk to hide but the gunman came over "looked down at me and pointed the gun at me... I shouted 'don't shoot, don't shoot' ".
"I've never felt terror like it. I was really, really scared."
He said lay behind the desk before going to a room near reception where he hid with a receptionist for an hour.
Mr McAnena later tweeted: "Thanks for the tweets and other messages. I'm ok but unfortunately not everyone was as lucky."
Mel Christle, president of the Boxing Union of Ireland, said the last of the boxers weighing in had just stood down when he heard gunfire erupting outside the room.
"There was a horrific cracking noise, in front of me, out of the banquet room - it was a place called the Regency Suite," he said.
"There was an incredible noise out there, and that is where I saw a body, a corpse, lying literally at the edge of the reception desk.
"So I'm sure he (the victim) was trapped - he was riddled."
Mr Christle said one of the gunmen was dressed up as a woman and aged in his early twenties.
The boxing chief said the attackers did not target the boxers but other people shot in the hotel reception.
He said some people dived for cover when they realised what was happening.
"I actually saw the sheer fear that will live with them for a long, long time," he said.
"It actually touched me, how afraid - I'm sure adults were afraid, but my God, the children couldn't believe what was going on."
The headline bout of Saturday's event was due to between Jamie Kavanagh and Joao Bento for the vacant WBO European Lightweight Title.
Kavanagh later tweeted: "Anyone asking I'm OK! Thanks you for asking. I was lucky today is all I can say....."
Gardai are believed to be investigating if the shooting is linked to the murder of Kavanagh's father Gerard 'Hatchet' Kavanagh, who was shot dead in Spain last September.
It is believed he was murdered by a drugs cartel and Friday's shooting could be in retaliation for the killing.
His uncle Paul Kavanagh was also shot dead in Dublin in March 2015.
Gardaí are also probing links between Friday's shooting and the murder of 33-year-old criminal Gary Hutch - who was shot dead in Spain last year.
