Crumlin man was ‘shot in the back’

Sally McManus said her 26-year-old son, who died after the weekend attack in Kennedy Way, had been shot in the back.

He was targeted on Saturday night, in a car park outside the pizza shop where he worked as a delivery driver.

Ms McManus said her son’s death has ‘ripped the heart out’ of her family and appealed to anyone with information about the murder to come forward.

The father-of-one, originally from the Turf Lodge area of west Belfast, was shot several times at close range outside Domino’s Pizza at 11pm and died shortly afterwards in hospital.

Speaking on the BBC’s Nolan Show, Sally McManus described him as a “loveable brother and son”.

She said he loved life and had been “completely focussed” on his six-year-old son.

“It’s just ripped the heart out of the whole lot of us,” she said. “His brothers - their hearts are just completely broken. His wee son and his wee sister - they just don’t know what’s going on at all. And as for me, I don’t know how I’m going to get through it at all, until these people are brought to justice.

“I would really appeal to the public, if anybody knows anything about this, to come forward. I wouldn’t wish it on any mother.”

She said Kieran had gone to work as normal on Saturday night but as her family were getting ready for bed, they received a text message telling them that he had been shot and was being treated by paramedics.

“At first I thought maybe he had been shot in the legs or something, but in the back? I mean, that’s just cowardice,” she said.

The victim’s mother said she started to pray as she rushed to see her wounded son, but before she managed to reach him, the family got another phone call to say Kieran had died.

“It’s a mother’s worst nightmare, and especially in the most cowardly way,” she said.

“I would really love to just meet the one who pulled that trigger. It was real big of them, like, shooting him in the back.”

Kieran McManus was given an 18 month suspended sentence on charges relating to an incident in February 2010 in which a man suffered serious injuries from a sword or machete attack in the Turf Lodge area.

Police say they are looking for information on a dark red Vauxhall Astra - found at Deadwood Park, a residential area in Andersonstown.

Chief Constable Matt Baggott said that they were still trying to establish a motive for the attack.

“He was known to us but he was a father, he was part of a family and whatever his background there is absolutely no excuses or no reason for such a brutal attack,” Mr Baggott said.

Detective Chief Inspector Karen Baxter, who is leading the murder investigation, said, “Nothing justifies the brutal attack on Kieran and the death of a young man.

“What happened in Kennedy Way was a brutal and ruthless attack, which has no place in society.”

Justice minister David Ford described the shooting as a “callous murder”.

“There can be no cause that can justify the taking of a precious human life and no excuse can explain the suffering that results,” he said.