Police investigating the murder of a Catholic teenager in north Belfast today released a photo-fit of a man they wish to question.
Detective Inspector Keith McCoubrey said the man, who was seen with a car at the entrance to Belfast Zoo near the murder scene, could have vital evidence about the killing of 19-year-old Gerard Lawlor.
He said someone in north Belfast knew who killed the father-of-one and appealed for them to come forward with information.
Mr Lawlor was shot dead by loyalist gunmen on the Floral Road in the Whitewell area of north Belfast last July as he walked home from the nearby Bellevue ArmsBar.
Security sources at the time blamed the Ulster Defence Association for the killing, however, Mr McCoubrey today insisted the exact loyalist grouping responsible had not yet been identified.
Mr Lawlor had been due to move home with his partner Siobhan and 18-month-old son Josh just days after his death.
The 19-year-old forklift truck driver was shot at least five times less than 100 yards from his Whitewell Road home just after midnight on July 22 and diedat the scene.
Local priest Fr Dan Whyte, who gave the last rites at the scene, said the killers were able to identify their target as a Catholic as he was wearing a Glasgow Celtic football shirt.
The shooting took place at the end of a day of sectarian rioting in north Belfast and after what police described as a "night of mayhem".
Two men - one Catholic and one Protestant - were injured after they were shot in separate earlier incidents.
Mr McCoubrey said police investigating the murder had received a good response from both sides of the community and he was confident all the people in vicinity of the scene at the time had been identified, apart from two groups.
"The first group of individuals is described as a group of persons of between one and four people who were seen in a dark coloured vehicle parked at the entrance of Belfast Zoo," he said.
"One witness has been able to give us a very good description of one of the people who was with that vehicle, who was seen standing outside it and todaywe've released a photofit and a description of the person we're seeking.
"I believe that person has got vital evidence to offer us because they were parked here at the time of the murder and may have seen something key to the investigation."
Mr McCoubrey said two men seen in the area on a motorcycle at the time were also yet to be identified.
He said there were people in the community in north Belfast who know who must know who committed the murder and he appealed for them to come forward.
"Gerard was a young 19-year-old man who was walking home from the pub that night and was gunned down for no reason whatsoever," he said.
"I would like to appeal to anyone who's got a conscience to come forward and tell us who's done this and let us solve a senseless murder."
No arrests have been made in connection with the killing.
However, Mr McCoubrey added: "Unfortunately to operate arrests and to conduct operations, we have to have evidence to allow us to interview people and chargepeople and put them before the court, which is why witness evidence is alwaysvital to any murder inquiry."
PA