night yesterday deepened.

For sources close to the case say James Caines was shot once not three times and from a distance of 25 feet through a glass panel.

It was claimed Mr. Caines, 28, named his killer before dying in his mother's arms.

The area of the shooting -- Middletown Lane, Pembroke -- is badly lit and the night-time shooting throws doubt on Mr. Caines ability to identify the gunman at that distance.

The source added: "The shot may not have been intended to kill or even hit anyone.'' The news came as the probe into the shooting of Mr. Caines entered its fourth day.

Mr. Caines was shot around 9 p.m. at a house in Middletown Lane on Saturday night.

The dying man staggered hundreds of yards to his home in Union Street, Pembroke, before collapsing into the arms of his stunned mother Sandra Cyrus.

Ms. Cyrus said her son had managed to give her the name of a man he said had shot him before he died.

And she said she had been told her son had been shot three times, including a head wound.

Earlier this week, a Police insider said a drugs link was being investigated.

But a Police spokesman refused to comment on the lines the murder probe was taking, although he confirmed a man was in custody in connection with an incident in Middletown.

And yesterday a senior officer said that three men had now been detained in connection with the inquiry, but that no charges had been made.