Murder victim tried to fight off gunman, inquest hears

A muder victim tried to fight off his attacker before he was shot multiple times, an inquest heard.

Christopher Zambra (39) parked outside his sister's house on Cooley Road, Drimnagh, Dublin 12 on May 4th, 2014.

Witnesses saw a gunman chase him before the pair engaged in a tussle and Mr Zambra fell over a fence into a garden.

His sister Sharon Farrington said she saw a man in a ski mask chase another man down the street from her bedroom window.

“The man caught up with him and I ran away from the window. I said, is it Christopher? I was afraid for his life,” Ms Farrington said.

Her daughter Jessica Farrington saw her uncle running up the Cooley Road about 2.40pm.

“I saw him running and another man behind him pointing a gun at his back. I saw him shoot him twice in the back. Christopher fell over a wall,” she said. She shouted for the gunman to stop.

“The shooter casually walked back to a car and got another gun, walked back to Christopher and shot him twice,” she said in her deposition, read out at Dublin Coroner’s Court.

She held her uncle’s hand as he lay dying in the front garden of a house three doors from her home, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard.

A witness in a house nearby went to the window when he heard gunshots.

“I saw two males struggling with each other. The gunman hit the other man over the head with the gun. He fell over the fence. The gunman shot him three or four times,” the man said.

He saw the gunman return to a car for another firearm and shoot him again.

Mr Zambra’s niece Jessica said she held his hand while her parents contacted emergency services. A large crowd had gathered at the scene by the time gardaí arrived at 3.02pm.

Mr Zambra, from Galtymore Road in Drimnagh, Dublin 12 was pronounced dead at the scene.

The cause of death was chest injuries due to gunshot wounds. CCTV footage showed Mr Zambra leaving his home and picked up his car at various locations on the way to Cooley Road.

Gardaí believe he was followed on this journey.

Gardaí followed up 250 lines of inquiry and took 190 statements in relation to the death. The investigation remains open, the court heard.

The jury before Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane returned a verdict of unlawful killing by person or persons unknown.