A Catholic man in his early 30s was shot dead last night on the outskirts of north Belfast. He was targeted just after 8 p.m. as he sat in his silver Vauxhall Frontera near Beattie's garage at the Horseshoe bend on the Upper Crumlin Road.
It is thought at least one gunman was involved. The victim suffered multiple injuries and died at the scene. Another man in the car was not hurt but was taken to the Mater Hospital, also in north Belfast, suffering from shock.
Police initially suspected the killing was not sectarian, but a claim of responsibility from the Red Hand Defenders was later issued to a Belfast newsroom. Det Chief Insp Ken Armstrong said: "At this early stage we have not ruled out a drugs motive."
Early this morning officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland were carrying out a finger-tip search of the scene.
The Sinn Fein Assembly member for north Belfast, Mr Gerry Kelly, blamed the UDA for the killing and said the organisation was behind much of the strife in the north of the city.
"In recent weeks political representatives in north Belfast have been attempting to take initiatives to defuse tensions in the area. The response of the UDA to this has included attacks on Catholic homes over the weekend, an attempt to kill two teenagers this evening with a pipe bomb and now the killing of a man tonight."
The area's MP, Mr Nigel Dodds of the DUP said: "I am shocked at the brutal slaying of a man tonight. This callous murder is all the more horrific in the run-up to the Christmas holiday."
The murder was also condemned by the SDLP North Belfast Assembly member, Mr Alban Maginness.
Earlier, in the same area of the city, two teenagers escaped injury when a blast bomb exploded close to them in the nationalist Hillman Street in the Duncairn area. Locals blamed loyalists. They said three men appeared in Duncairn Gardens and threw the bomb over the peace line into Hillman Street.
The incidents occurred hours after the North's First and Deputy First Ministers unveiled a £200,000 sterling action plan to tackle north Belfast's social and economic problems. The project will be headed by a former Presbyterian Moderator, the Rev John Dunlop, and includes an outreach advisory service aimed at giving people new skills and confidence to aid their communities.