'Public enemy No1' - Kevin Carroll - shot dead in Asda car park

Kevin Carroll appeared to be the victim of a classic gangland hit outside an Asda store in the Glasgow suburb of Robroyston at 1:25pm yesterday. The 29-year-old career criminal – who went by the underworld nickname "Gerbil" – died at the scene.

A key figure in the Daniels crime family, his death sparked fears of a new turf war for control of north Glasgow's drugs market.

Mr Carroll, also known as Kevin McCabe, is understood to have been shot five times as he sat in his black Audi S4, while shocked lunchtime shoppers watched.

His killers, believed to be three masked gunmen, then sped off in a black or dark car.

Police immediately increased patrols across the area to try to reassure a community already sick of constant feuding between the Daniels gang and their arch rivals, the Lyons.

Detective Superintendent Michael Orr said:

"This attack was carried out with an utter disregard to public safety. A man has been shot dead in broad daylight, and it is imperative that we trace those responsible.

"Although we believe that this was not a random attack and that he was the intended target, it does not lessen the severity of this crime," said DS Orr . "He was someone's son, loved one and friend, and this murder will be thoroughly investigated."

Mr Carroll has survived several other attempted hits, one as recently as late last year.

The boyfriend of the daughter of Jamie Daniels, the chief of the Possil-based crime clan, he was facing police and Crown Office efforts to seize his assets, including a car, which they claimed were the proceeds of crime.

Police sources called Mr Carroll "public enemy No1". Detectives suspect he was behind a string of kidnappings of underworld figures, dubbed "alien abductions" because the victims were too traumatised to speak to the police.

Billy McAllister, a Glasgow councillor who is trying to organise a summit on fighting organised crime, said: "How many deaths does it take until we are going to get tough on criminals in this city?

"It is like Chicago in the 1920s."