Police today stepped up their hunt for the killers of a gangland figure shot dead in a Glasgow supermarket car park.Terrified shoppers at Asda in Robroyston feared for their safety after the shooting at 1.25pm yesterday.
Although the victim has not been officially identified, it is understood to be Kevin Carroll, known as The Gerbil. He is believed to have been shot five times.He was an alleged associate of the Daniels crime family and had survived two previous attempts to kill him.The attack happened at the main entrance of the store in Saughs Road when masked men opened fire on a black Audi parked outside.Another three men in the vehicle were not hurt.
It is thought Mr Carroll was lured there under the pretence of a meeting with associates.One witness described leaving the supermarket to be confronted with horrifying scenes of the dead man slumped in the backseat of the car. The glass of the back window had been shattered by bullets.
She said: “I was inside the store at the checkout, paying, when I heard the shots, but I didn’t realise that’s what it was – I thought it was firecrackers or something.“I came out and the car was right in front of me with the back window shot in. The door was open and you could see his legs hanging out the side.“The paramedics were around him, but he was obviously dead. You just don’t expect this sort of thing in Robroyston.”The assailants had made off from the car park in a black or dark car.
Extra patrols were in place in the area today to allay public fears, but police believe Mr Carroll, also known as McCabe, was the intended target.
Local Labour MSP Paul Martin voiced his concerns.He said: “I am concerned that such a serious incident could potentially have been a great threat to innocent members of the public.I have sought assurances from senior police officers that action has been taken to reassure the public.”After the shooting police sealed off the entrance and cordoned off the car park. They also set up an incident room near the store’s petrol station. Workers on their lunch breaks were among those stranded by the car park being sealed off.Dozens of shoppers, many of them elderly, were herded into the main foyer and kept there until almost 4pm while forensic teams examined the crime scene, spoke to witnesses and erected a white tent around the damaged vehicle.Some customers who had left the store before police closed off the entrance spent hours sitting in their cars after police redirected them into the car park while they conducted preliminary investigations.
With Mr Carroll an alleged associate of the Daniels family, a Glasgow crime gang, the shooting points to possible links with a violent drugs war and vendettas between rival families.It is understood he may have been targeted following a bungled ‘hit’ on a member of the rival Lyons family this week.Detective Superintendent Michael Orr said: “While we believe this was not a random attack and he was the intended target, it does not lessen the severity of this crime.“Our priority is tracing those responsible. He was someone’s son, loved one and friend and this murder will be thoroughly investigated.”Mr Carroll is alleged to have had long-standing links to organised crime through his association with north Glasgow’s Daniels family, alleged to control one of the city’s major drug rings.His girlfriend, Kelly Bo, is the daughter of clan boss Jamie Daniel.
Mr Carroll was left fighting for his life in November 2006 after being shot in the stomach in a drive-by shooting in Bishopbriggs.He and a friend, Ross Sherlock, were fired on at close range by gunmen posing as police officers.
