Family 'devastated' by pub murder

Police say Edward Byrne was shot in the head

The family of a man who was gunned down in a Liverpool pub are said to have been bewildered and devastated by his murder.

On Monday police were continuing to hunt the killer of 66-year-old Edward Byrne, who died in the Yew Tree pub in Knotty Ash on Friday night.

The father-of-three was shot once in the head at point blank range after a man burst in to the pub on Finch Lane at about 2325 GMT.

Police were continuing to try and establish a motive for the gun attack, which is the third fatal shooting in a month in Liverpool.

Forensic searches

They said they wanted to speak to all the drinkers - thought to be about 40 of them - who were in the pub at the time.

Officers are also appealing for the driver of a black Ford Focus, seen outside the Yew Tree, to come forward.

Detectives said Mr Byrne was not known to them, but do not believe he was targeted at random.

Mr Byrne, of Yew Tree Lane, was taken to Whiston Hospital where he later died from his injuries.

Muscular build

Police stepped up patrols in the area over the weekend, with house-to-house inquiries and forensic searches.

The killer is described as around 30-years-old, between 5 ft 6 in and 5 ft 10 in tall and of muscular build.

He wore dark blue tracksuit bottoms, a lighter coloured top, white baseball cap and a checked, thick scarf around the lower part of his face.

The killing of Mr Byrne is not being linked to the other recent shooting murders in the city.