A young man murdered in Newry, Co Down, could have been a victim of a growing dispute between drug dealers in the city, police and local representatives believe.
Jonathan Graham (20) from the Ardcarne area of the city was shot dead as he parked his car some time between midnight and 1am yesterday.
The PSNI said it was much too early to say with certainty what the motive was. But one line of inquiry is linking the murder with two other shooting incidents in the vicinity around the same time, and a third incident in Ballyholland outside Newry last weekend.
Det Chief Insp Tim Hanley said: "We will be considering all possible motives in relation to this murder." Asked about possible paramilitary involvement in the killing, Mr Hanley said: "We'll be ruling nothing in and ruling nothing out."
Mr Graham's killer shot him as, or shortly after, he parked his blue Peugeot 205 outside the home where he lived with his parents and sisters. The dead man's mother is understood to have undergone surgery in the hours before her son was murdered.
Mr Graham was taken to Daisy Hill hospital a short distance from the crime scene and later transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast were he died a short time later.
There was no immediate suggestion of any link to a €735,000 cocaine seizure by the PSNI drugs squad which broke a cross-Border drugs ring and uncovered a drug factory at a house between Moy and Dungannon, Co Tyrone, on Tuesday.
Sinn Féin Assembly member Conor Murphy said Newry residents were in shock at the killing. "A young man has lost his life and it's a tragedy for the family concerned. Nobody wants to see this type of incident occurring."
Ulster Unionist Assembly member Danny Kennedy insisted nothing could justify the murder. "Whatever the so-called reasons, it doesn't excuse murder," he said.
Local SDLP councillor John McArdle said: "The Graham family are known and respected around here. It's terrible that this has happened."