There are strong indications that the man shot dead in a bar in Co Tyrone on Friday night was killed over drug smuggling.
Mr Patrick Quinn, a 32-year-old who originally came from Ardboe, Co Tyrone, died after two men shot him in the Union Bar in Magherafelt around 11 p.m. on Friday. It is believed he knew his attackers. One source has told The Irish Times that Mr Quinn told the men he was sorry and asked them not to kill him. Mr Quinn is said to have been told to leave Coalisland, Co Tyrone, by the IRA in connection with drugs, and both unionist and nationalist sources have linked him with drug dealing in Magherafelt.
Local SDLP councillor Mr Pat Kilpatrick said the town was stunned by the gun attack. "I was horrified to learn that such a horrible thing would come to our town," he said.
"Magherafelt is a pleasant rural town. Such things are counter-productive because it means it calls for retribution of some kind against the people concerned. It means that there is a terrible aspect creeping into society around here and I dread for the future of young people."
The Ulster Unionist Assembly member for Mid-Ulster, Mr Billy Armstrong, said: "I condemn violence and murder and the taking of life but evil people must be punished and government laws are weak and must be revised to take the evil out of society."
Sinn Fein Education Minister and local MP Martin Mc Guinness extended his sympathy to Mr Quinn's family. He said he deplored the attack and "had hoped to have seen the end of such violent death. Whatever the motive for this shooting, we all must resolve to create the circumstances and society where this type of incident no longer occurs."
Mr Quinn's funeral takes place today and his family have requested that no members of the media attend. He is believed to have had three children, the eldest a 14-year-old girl, with his estranged wife. An RUC spokesman said that detectives did not believe there was a sectarian motive for the killing of Mr Quinn, a Catholic. The spokesman would not comment on a possible link to drugs.
The spokesman appealed to witnesses to come forward and said investigators had yet to discover the getaway car, a blue Ford Sierra with the registration number GDZ 5662.