Liverpool newsagent shot dead in suspected robbery

A murder investigation has been launched after a popular shopkeeper was shot dead in Merseyside yesterday in what detectives believe to have been a robbery.

Police were called to Dinas Lane in Huyton, Liverpool, at 7.30am after a member of the public called the ambulance service. The shop was open when the incident occurred.

Merseyside Police said the shopkeeper – in his 40s and from the Yemeni community – was "well liked". He had been discovered with a single wound to his chest.

"It is a very, very tragic that a man as the peak of his life in terms of his business and in general has had his life taken away," said Detective Superintendent Paul Richardson. He appealed for witnesses to come forward.

Det Supt Richardson said a customer had called for a taxi outside the newsagents but that he did not believe he had been there at the time of the shooting.

"There is nothing concrete that would suggest that this is racially motivated and nothing appears to have been taken," he said.

At least six police officers were patrolling the cordoned-off row of shops last night, which included Carol's Newsagents, where the man's body was found.

Officers refused to release the name of the man or confirm reports that he was a father of six until his body had been formally identified. Neighbours said they were "devastated" by the death.