AN innocent woman hospitalised following a gun attack this week said she and her boyfriend were “so lucky” to have survived.
Robert Ellis (23) and his girlfriend Sarah Hardiman (21) were injured when a gunman opened fire on them outside a house in Grange View estate in Clondalkin, Dublin, on Thursday night.
A hitman fired five shots from a handgun in the attack, hitting Sarah in the arm and Ellis in the stomach.
Ellis, who has dozens of convictions, was believed to be the intended target of the attack, having recently been officially warned by gardai there was a threat to his life.
Gardai believe the pair were lucky that the would-be assassin used a low-calibre handgun.
“We were so lucky,” Sarah said online. She went on to tell pals she and Robert were “both grand”.
“We’re both doing well,” she said.
She told Ellis she loved him and added that she was “feeling blessed” after surviving the gun attack.
Ellis has close links to notorious criminal Lee McDonnell, who went on the run in December after he escaped from a prison van which had stopped for food following a prison visit.
Robert Ellis and Lee McDonald
McDonnell, who is serving a 10-year sentence for a number of violent crimes, including armed robbery, was recaptured in Ronanstown in January.
Ellis, who had only been released from prison in September, is believed to have met up with McDonnell while he was on the run.
He had been serving a sentence for his involvement in a machete attack on a man in Ballyfermot along with McDonnell and another pal.
Ellis received a four-year sentence with 18 months suspended. He was previously sentenced to seven years with four suspended for drugs offences.
Gardai are investigating whether a southwest Dublin gang were behind the gun attack on Ellis this week.
Gardai are also looking into claims he was targeted because of his links to McDonnell and other associates.
