Police are still working on tracking down who was behind Thursday’s murder of Jonathan Pace, the owner of Tyson Butcher, who was shot while he was standing on the balcony of his Fgura flat.

No significant developments or arrests have been made yet over the drive-by shooting along Mahatma Gandhi Street, police sources said.

The scene of the crime was eerily silent yesterday, with the exception of cars slowing down to see the bullet holes along the first-floor balcony.

Mr Pace, 31, was shot at least five times and was mainly hit in the chest and lower body by an assault rifle that has rapid fire capability – between 15 and 20 bullets were fired.

Investigators believe the shooter drove past in an SUV and they are not ruling out that more than one person was involved in the plotted attack that had an “element of professionalism”.

Police said they were looking into the similarities between this murder and that of 58-year-old Joe Galea, known as Il-Ġilda, who was shot 17 times outside his Marsa home in February. Mr Galea had been charged with the attempted murder of Vince Muscat, Il-Koħħu, in Msida last April.

Police are exploring all possibilities and probing Mr Pace’s past, including his accumulating debts.