Associates of gun victim James Whelan are planning to kill the gangster they blame for the murder – but only after his funeral, it has emerged.
Sources have revealed that gardai probing last Sunday’s shooting of Whelan in north Dublin fear tensions are at boiling point among his associates - and they are determined to seek revenge.
They have identified the gangster known as Mr Flashy as being behind the murder of the 29-year-old in Finglas even though gardai do not suspect he fired the fatal shot.
READ MORE: Pictures of jailed Scott Capper and James Whelan placed at scene of Finglas shooting
And it's understood investigators now believe that mob boss cannot outrun Whelan’s pals.
“It is hard to see how Flashy can survive this,” a source said last night.
And he added that gardai do not believe the gang will strike until dad of one Whelan’s funeral takes place.
The remains of Whelan – who was shot in the back as he ran for his life after trying to attack associates of Flashy at 4.30am last Sunday – have not been released to his family yet and it could be next week before he is laid to rest.
But a source told The Mirror last night: “Tensions are very high in Finglas at the minute
"Whelan's associates are out for blood. There is no doubt they will go after Flash now and he will be lucky to escape with his life.
“But we don’t believe there will be any action until after the funeral and his body hasn’t even been released yet.
“But they will definitely go after Flashy. He is in serious bother now.”
Meanwhile, sources have also told The Mirror that criminals from all over Dublin have been seeing paying their respects at a makeshift memorial to Whelan at the scene of his murder in the Deanstown Avenue area of Finglas.
It’s understood an associate of Kinahan gang boss Liam Byrne was spotted in the area in recent days, as well as criminals from Crumlin in the south of the city.
It’s also understood a killer who is closely associated with convicted Kinahan cartel murderer Freddie Thompson was also seen at the memorial.
The Mirror has also learned that Whelan almost escaped the gunman who was hunting him down – but was felled by a lucky shot.
Whelan was a former associate of Flashy but later became involved in a vicious feud with his drugs gang.
Sources say Whelan - who was nicknamed Wheela - tried to petrol bomb a property but was seen by Flashy’s men and at least one of them chased him.
He ran for his life but a key ally of Flashy pulled out a gun and fired a single shot at Whelan – hitting him in the back.
He was mortally wounded and died at the scene, despite the initial efforts of bystanders and then paramedics to save him.
But sources have now told The Mirror that Whelan was hit with a lucky shot – and almost escaped his killer.
One source said: “This was not an execution up close.
“Whelan was running and yer man fired a single shot from a good distance.
“He was lucky and Whelan was unlucky.”
A vicious war of words has now erupted between Flashy’s so-called Gucci Gang and associates of Whelan – with threats even being made to dig up the victim’s body if he is buried.
The vile threats, seen by The Mirror, which appeared on an anonymous social media app yesterday - stated “The Gucci Gang is on top. Kippure is full of hard men. It won’t be long before Wheela is dug up.”
The vile taunting continued with asking “Where is the big man now. He’s left with a hole in his chest, mad rat” as well as “Who shot ya Wiggy.”
Another brazen social media posts states “Who's next - night night Squeela ye rat,” while a threat vowing revenge for the shooting of Whelan, seen by The Mirror, stated: “Who am I blowing away now ‘revenge is the sweetest thing.’
The taunts come as The Mirror understands that Whelan’s funeral - details of which have not been announced on death notice site RIP.ie - will be closely monitored by gardai in both an overt and covert operation.
“It is expected a major security operation will be put in place. But it will be stepped back and won’t interfere with the funeral service,” a source told The Mirror. “There will also be a certain element of covert surveillance in place too.”
“This is quite normal for gangland funerals in case there is any violence or retaliations,” the source said.
Whelan, who had over 50 convictions, had fallen out with Mr Flashy - who gained his nickname from his constant flaunting of his wealth and designer gear on social media - in recent months and the feuding between both sides reached boiling point when an associate of Mr Flashy was abducted, beaten and dumped in Finglas last month.
And Whelan's enemies even posted a sick death threat against him online - just weeks before his murder.
Whelan’s murder marks a new departure for the Finglas feud, which had only seen violent attacks and assaults before he was ruthlessly shot dead.
Gardai fear further violence between the feuding gangs with sources saying gardai now believe a key associate of Mr Flashy was the gunman who shot Whelan.
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