Police have begun a murder inquiry after a 28-year-old single man was shot dead at a party in Co Down early yesterday.
The victim, named locally as Mr Richard Hamill, was shot in the head in the bathroom of a house in St Gallen Court, Bangor.
Det Chief Insp Roy McComb said that the police investigation had not yet established a motive. "It would be unwise of me to speculate as to the motive that led someone to take the life of an innocent 28-year-old man. But I have to keep my options open, and whether this is paramilitary, crime or some other motive, the fact is that I am dealing with a death that should not have occurred."
Mr McComb said that police had interviewed some of those who had been at the party. He added that detectives wanted to speak to others who had not yet come forward.
The house, in a quiet residential estate near Skipperstone Road on the outskirts of the north Down town, was cordoned off as forensic officers began their investigation.
Mr McComb said that police were called to the house shortly after 4 a.m. by ambulance staff. "The ambulance service were able to tell us that a 28-year-old man received a fatal gunshot wound to the head in the bathroom of the house," he said. The fact that a young child was asleep in the house at the time of the shooting made the murder "all the more shocking".
Mr McComb said that the victim had been invited to the party, but it was too early to say how his murderer came to be in the house.
However, one partygoer said that the victim had been followed upstairs by his killer, adding: "I'm just devastated. We didn't believe it happened. We were all sitting drinking together and this fellow came in and asked to go to the toilet, and a man went up behind him and that was that."
In other incidents in the North, two people have been treated in hospital after separate shootings in Belfast and Co Armagh.
A 16-year-old youth was shot in the leg on Saturday evening in an apparent paramilitary-style shooting in the Bray Street area of the Shankill Road in west Belfast.
At about the same time, a 27-year-old man was shot once in the thigh in Portadown. That incident took place in the Ulsterville Grove area.
The PSNI is continuing to question nine men from across Northern Ireland after materials linked to the UVF were found in a mainly loyalist estate in Co Antrim. The items were discovered in Monkstown on the outskirts of north Belfast. The nine were arrested after the search operation early on Saturday morning. The items recovered included three guns, balaclavas and combat-style clothing. Police described the find as "significant".
Acting Assistant Chief Constable Maggie Hunter said that some of those arrested were known to police. "In addition to the firearms that we recovered, we've also recovered items of paramilitary clothing and some regalia which we would believe to be associated with the UVF," she said.
Ms Hunter said that the PSNI search was evidence of the force's determination to crack down on all paramilitary groups. "In recent months, we have been directing a huge number of resources against the activities of the Ulster Defence Association," she added.