THE suspected murder of a Catholic man in a loyalist area of Antrim is not believed to be sectarian.
The victim, who has been named locally as Liam Christie, is understood to have been shot.
Police were called to the Craighill area of the Ballycraigy estate at around 9am yesterday.
A spokesperson said only that detectives from the Major Investigation Team "have launched a murder enquiry following an incident in the Craighill area of Antrim".
"A 31-year-old man has been arrested and is assisting police with enquiries. The investigation is at an early stage and there are no further details at present. Anyone with information should contact police on 101."
Mr Christie, who is originally from north Belfast, is understood to have lived in the staunchly loyalist area for several years.
Sources say he had recently been ordered from the area by a drugs gang with links to the LVF.
DUP councillor Paul Dunlop urged calm last night.
"There is a community in shock at the minute and it's an early stage in the investigation," he said.
"We would urge people to have restraint and let the police continue with this investigation and obviously any speculation is unhelpful."
SDLP councillor Roisin Lynch: "I would encourage anyone with any information about what took place to come forward to police as soon as possible and assist them with their investigation."
