A man has been shot dead in a gun attack in north Belfast which is being linked to a loyalist paramilitary feud.
The victim, named earlier as Mr Jonathan Stewart (22), was standing in the kitchen of a house in Manor Street with another man when a lone gunman burst in shortly before 7.30 a.m. this morning.
The victim was singled out and shot a number of times, police said.
Neighbours reported hearing five or six shots. The other man was not injured. It is understood the victim did not live in the house.
Security sources are linking the murder to the feud within the loyalist Ulster Defence Association and believe it was carried out by paramilitaries from the lower Shankill.
Mr Stewart's family said today he was not involved in any paramilitary organisation.
He is known to be the nephew of a well known loyalist in the north Belfast area.
PSNI Detective Superintendent Roy Suitters described the murder as "an execution which had brought more grief to yet another family in the area".
"This has got to stop", he added.
He said the investigation into the killing would be looking at a number of incidents in north Belfast recently.
Mr Suitters said it was obvious that they would be looking at the loyalist feud as a possible motive.
The feud within the UDA began after two of its leading members, Johnny Adair and John White, were expelled from the organisation in October.
The UDA later called for its members in the loyalist upper Shankill area of west Belfast to distance themselves from the two men.