APART from a very visible police presence, the only thing out of the ordinary on the streets of Neilston is the row of football shirt tributes left on a set of railings near the local primary school.
Children play just yards from the spot where messages of sympathy and sorrow have been left following the shooting of 48- year-old John Finnigan a week ago.
Mr Finnigan was shot at around 8pm on Thursday, October 27, as he walked down Bank Street in the East Renfrewshire village.
He was taken to Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital, but died a short time later.
Uniformed police officers were yesterday staging door-to-door inquiries in nearby streets, as their inquiry into the murder continued.
Police have stressed the killing was “not a random attack”, but the events have shaken the community in the otherwise quiet village.
At the Church of St Thomas in Main Street, just round the corner from where tributes have been laid, the local priest, father James Cunningham says people are trying to resume their normal lives.
Father Cunningham said: “People are still talking about it.
“The fact something like that can happen, people are concerned, but people recognise this was a targeted thing.
“But life is carrying on much as usual, people have to get on with it. Kids are going to school. People are going to work.
“I suppose what people have in mind is there’s no place that’s totally out of it.
“It can happen anywhere.
“That’s not to say people were expecting it.
“The fact a gun was involved – that is a shock.”
In the cafe on the main street, Gavin Turnbull, 20, said: “We have had people coming in and talking about it, but there’s a sense now that people are trying to move on.
“It is shocking, but people are looking at it as one of those things.”
Police said Mr Finnigan’s killer was male, around 5ft 7in, and was wearing dark-coloured clothing and a dark hat.
They believe the suspect made off from the scene on foot from Bank Street into Hillside Road.
They have appealed for information in connection with the murder and said although they believe it was not random. They are still trying to establish the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
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