A man shot dead outside his home near Belfast may have been ambushed by former paramilitary associates, it emerged today.
Detectives investigating the attack at the village of Crawfordsburn, Co Down, believe the man had been involved in the illegal drugs trade and was a victim of some sort of fall-out.
Police said the victim was gunned down outside his home on the edge of Bangor, a seaside town around 10 miles from Belfast, late last night. They believe two gunmen carried out the attack before escaping on foot.
Police said it was too early to speculate on a motive for the attack, but sources said the man, who has not been named, was well known in Protestant "loyalist" paramilitary circles.
Local politician Billy Hutchinson acknowledged the dead man was a senior figure in the Red Hand Commando, a small armed group closely allied to the larger Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), but could not say why he had been killed.
"I know there were some concerns yesterday about his security. I think he had indicated that himself to one or two people," Hutchinson, whose Progressive Unionist Party is linked to the UVF, told BBC radio.
"At the moment we would just be speculating if we started to point the finger and I think that would be unhelpful".