Police are concerned another loyalist feud could erupt following the murder of Jim "Jonty" Johnston, a senior figure in the Red Hand Commando, writes Gerry Moriarty.
Mr Johnston (45) was shot dead outside his luxury home in Crawfordsburn in north Down on Thursday night. He had earlier told friends he feared for his life.
The PSNI belives that either he died in an internal loyalist dispute over drug dealing or that he was shot in revenge for other murders of loyalists.
Mr Johnston had been questioned about several loyalist killings, including that of Stephen Warnock last year. That killing led to the feud involving the UDA, the Loyalist Volunteer Force and Johnny Adair's "C-company" of the UDA on the lower Shankill. If the LVF were involved, this killing could lead to another dispute between the UVF and LVF.,
A senior LVF source denied that his organisation was involved. Another source said that Mr Johnston died as a result of a fall-out between loyalists over drugs.
Mr Johnston was shot dead by two masked gunmen at Ballyrobert Road beside his home around 10.40 p.m. on Thursday. His killers ran off.
Mr Billy Hutchinson, of the Progressive Unionist Party, which is linked to the UVF, confirmed that Mr Johnston had concerns over his security.
However he refused to speculate on who carried out the killing.
"We need to wait until the police make further investigations to see which quarter it came from," he said.
Mr Peter Weir, DUP representative in north Down, condemned the killing.
"This murder smacks of a mafia-style internal feud and again shows the need for the government to break paramilitaries rather than cut deals with them," he said. He warned against any retaliation.
Sinn Féin MP Ms Michelle Gildernew said that the IRA "cessation is in sharp contrast to the activities of the unionist paramilitaries".
"I have heard few calls from the UUP telling the unionist paramilitaries to engage with the IICD [decommissioning body], or stop their activities, or stop killing Catholics, or each other. It is time the UUP got real and began to deal with the violence emanating from the community it represents," said Ms Gildernew.