A FITNESS instructor gunned down outside his home may have been targeted by a love rival, it has emerged.
Stephen Fitzgerald, 28, was shot in Haywood Street, Milton, Glasgow as he returned from an exercise class.
On Wednesday police returned to the scene exactly one week on, and quizzed dozens of potential witnesses in a bid to trace the gunman and any potential accomplices.
Uniform and plain-clothed officers stopped and interviewed locals in a bid to glean vital clues.
His father, Stephen Snr, who was home at the time of the attack, heard several loud bangs, and found his seriously injured son in the street, lying in a pool of blood.
Detectives have finally been able to speak to Stephen, who was drifting in and out of consciousness in the moments after he was gunned down and remembers very little of the shooting.
It is understood Mr Fitzgerald, who is also a joiner, was targeted because of a "personal relationship".
Detectives stressed the shooting, which took place at around 7.10pm last Wednesday, was not drug or gang-related.
However, they do believe it was a targeted attack and the gunman may have followed Mr Fitzgerald earlier in the evening.
Detective Inspector Jim Bradley, from Glasgow CID, said: "Following extensive inquiries, we are satisfied the injured man was the intended target of the attack.
"We believe he was targeted by someone who knows his routine and was possibly followed to Haywood Street.
"A short time after the shooting, a maroon or burgundy Mazda 6 car was found burnt out a short distance away in Skirsa Square, Cadder. We believe the occupant or occupants were involved in the attack."
Police believe this Mazda 6 car, which may have been driven erratically following the shooting, is key to tracing whoever is responsible.
Mr Bradley said: "The vehicle was travelling at speed as it travelled along Ashgill Place, Ashgill Road, Glentanar Road, Balmore Road and into Skirsa Street, then Skirsa Square.
"I would ask anyone who saw a vehicle matching this description in any of the streets last Wednesday evening to get in touch.
"It was still quite early in the evening and I am sure that there would have been people about who saw or heard something."
The Mazda was stolen from Riddrie on March 11. It had also been fitted with a false registration plate, which read SN14 NRJ.
Mr Fitzgerald, who had been fighting for life, is recovering from emergency surgery in hospital.
Extra police have been drafted in and high-visibility patrols have been stepped up in a bid to reassure any concerned residents.
Mr Bradley added: "We will continue to pursue this inquiry.
"We will apprehend those responsible for this attack."
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