A murder investigation is under way after a man was shot on his doorstep, said Police Scotland.
Neil Canney, 37, was seriously injured in the attack outside his house in Nairn Road, Greenock, Inverclyde, at around 1.15am on Tuesday.
Emergency services went to the scene and Mr Canney was taken by ambulance to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where he died a short time later.
Police Scotland said no one else in the house, which included young children, were wounded.
Mr Canney’s family have been made aware and a report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.
Image: Police at the scene of the shooting on Nairn Road in Greenock Detective Superintendent Cameron Miller said: “Although we have yet to establish the motive for this attack, it does appear to have been a targeted incident.
“That said, this is a shocking incident and our thoughts are with Mr Canney’s family.”
Extensive police enquiries are ongoing and officers are gathering CCTV footage from the surrounding area.
An incident caravan has been set up on Nairn Road.
Image: Police bagging evidence following the fatal shooting Officers said a number of people wearing dark clothing were spotted at the house before Mr Canney was injured.
The group are then believed to have headed towards Angus Road.
Police want to hear from anyone who was in Nairn Road or the immediate vicinity between 12.50am and 1.15am who may have seen the suspects or have dashcam footage from the street around that time.
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‘Hugely traumatic incident’
DS Miller stated: “This is a hugely traumatic incident for the family and friends of Neil.
“I believe the answer lies within the local community and I would urge anyone with any information to come forward or supply this information to the police anonymously.”
Any information provided will be treated in confidence “without the fear of personal information being disclosed”.
DS Miller added: “This is an appalling crime and there is no place for this behaviour within any community. At the time of this incident there were young children present within the home address and the person responsible showed a total disregard for their safety.
“I would ask the community to take this into consideration as people living locally will know who is responsible, and no matter how insignificant they believe the information they hold may be, to share it with police.
“I would further ask that if anyone holds any video footage or images recorded on mobile phones, has information contained on social media such as Snapchat and Instagram amongst others to also share these with my team which can also be done anonymously.”