Eight bullets were fired yesterday afternoon as a desolate corner of Ħal Far industrial estate became the scene of a murder which the police believe was planned.

Ronald Galea, 65, was shot just outside Continental Meat Company Ltd, the meat production and storage firm he owned, as he was closing shop at around 4.45 pm .

He had died by the time an ambulance arrived on the scene.

Sources said eight shots were fired at Mr Galea from a 9mm pistol, hitting him in the back and side.

He fell a few metres behind his white Ford Mondeo, which was awkwardly parked in the middle of the road. The killer, who was unmasked, escaped in a Toyota Vitz.

Investigators were yesterday exploring the possibility that the killing, which they believe was premeditated, was related to business, sources said.

Officers from the police’s homicide and CID divisions were summoned and by 5.30pm several high-ranking officers, including two assistant commissioners, two superintendents and two inspectors were at the crime scene.

They were joined by forensic experts soon afterwards, with court magistrate Edwina Grima having ordered an investigation into the murder.

At one point Mr Galea’s son, Pierre, wearing jeans and a brown leather jacket, was seen pacing some 10 metres away from his father’s veiled corpse. As he walked, his hands clenched his head in a mixture of grief and disbelief.

A group of men – presumably co-workers employed by Mr Galea’s meat importation company – sought to console him, hooking arms around his shoulders and patting him on the back.

As the minutes trickled by, darkness began to descend and the police were forced to call in a mobile floodlight to illuminate the crime scene. The added lighting helped investigators speed up their work and within an hour a police hearse was ready to carry Mr Galea’s body away.

Although a Birkirkara resident, Mr Galea was originally from Valletta. Acquaintances described him as a friendly, extroverted man who loved his family and took pride in carrying procession statues on feasts such as Good Friday or Senglea’s annual Christ the Redeemer feast.

“He was a kind, jolly character: not the sort of person you’d think could ever get caught up in any kind of violent trouble,” one family friend told The Times.

“We’re struggling to understand what could have happened. It’s just a massive shock.”