Salford's 'Mr Big' Paul Massey 'had been mediating between two warring gangs'

A man killed outside his home in Salford on Sunday had been mediating between two warring gangs, a close friend has said.
Paul Massey, 55, died from four gunshot wounds to the chest, a postmortem examination revealed on Tuesday. Police believe he was the victim of a targeted killing.
Massey called 999 himself after being shot at 7.30pm on Sunday but was dead by the time paramedics arrived at his home on Manchester Road in the Clifton area of Salford.
Known as Salford’s “Mr Big” despite being scarcely 5ft tall, Massey was well known throughout Greater Manchester for his criminal activities, including being jailed for 14 years for a stabbing in 1999. His family insist he had tried to turn his life around in recent years, and ran unsuccessfully to be mayor of Salford in 2012.
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Talking to the Guardian in a bar in Manchester city centre on Tuesday, a close friend of Massey’s said Massey had been independently mediating between two warring factions in Salford for several months. The friend said Massey was trying to make peace between the two gangs and that “he may have come unstuck”.
The friend said Massey’s associates believed they knew the identity of the person who ordered the killing. Detectives believe Massey was killed in a targeted “hit” but a spokesman for Greater Manchester police said Massey was not mediating on behalf of the police. “It’s possible that he was mediating off his own bat but it’s not something we are aware of,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, police are searching for two witnesses who they believe may have seen the killing. They want to talk to the owner of a silver or grey Volvo seen driving away from the incident to come forward, as well as a 16- or 17-year-old Asian girl who was standing at a bus stop on Manchester Road.
The gunman is described as white, slim, and wearing a green or khaki top with combat trousers, black lace-up boots, a hat and a face covering. He was carrying a black gun.
Senior investigating officer DCI Howard Millington said: “Officers are working tirelessly to catch the person that did this and we will continue to offer support to Paul’s family at this distressing time.
“We believe this was a targeted attack on Paul and are still working to establish a motive for the murder. I would urge anybody with information about who may be behind this to come forward. I understand that people may be reluctant to but I believe that someone out there knows who killed Paul and I want to stress that any information received will be treated in the strictest confidence.”
The police say there is no intelligence to suggest that Massey’s shooting is linked to any of the 14 other shootings that have taken place in Manchester in recent months. Security has been stepped up in Salford following the attack and the police have stressed that any witnesses who come forward will be granted full anonymity.