Irish tourist gunned down in Costa de la Calma, Majorca, 'in case of mistaken identity'

An Irish tourist was shot dead in a Majorcan resort in front of his family in what Spanish investigators believe was a case of mistaken identity.

The man was killed at just after 9pm on Wednesday (17 August) in the resort of Costa de la Calma, in south-west Majorca, Spain's Guardia Civil said. Police are hunting for the gunman and his two suspected accomplices.

The victim has been named locally as father-of-three Trevor O'Neill, the Irish Mirror reported. It is believed that he travelled to Majorca on Saturday with his wife and children and intended to return on Sunday, RTE reported.

A witness, who did not want to be named, told the Irish Independent that the man was shot dead in front of several members of his family while they strolling to an area of the town packed with bars and restaurants.

After shots rang out "It was pandemonium at first. People were screaming and running in all directions," she told the newspaper. "The wife of the man that was shot had one of their children who must have been aged around seven in a pushchair that she was wheeling along when the victim was gunned down. He was walking slightly in front of them on his own.

"That child and another with her must have seen what had happened. Another two children were behind them and wouldn't have seen it and the woman turned round and screamed at them as it happened and that gave them time to run for cover in a side street."

She said that paramedics were unable to revive the man.

A female member of the victims family said that he did not have anything to do with Irish gangland crime. "He was never in his life in trouble with gardai. We can't bear to think that people would associate him with them [Irish crime families]," she told the Irish Sun. "This was mistaken identity, he was only over on a holiday with his three children. This is the result of this feud. This is what happens, innocent people get killed."

RTE reported that the killing is believed to be related to the ongoing feud between the Hutch and Kinahan criminal gangs.

Roadblocks have been set up, and and an all-ports warning issued as police attempt to prevent the killer fleeing the island. The killer was believed to have been wearing wearing a blue hooded tracksuit top at the time of the killing, and police are also searching for two accomplices.

Officers are working on the theory that the victim was shot four times in the back outside an empty supermarket in a case of mistaken identity, the Diario de Majorca reported.