Believed to be aged in his early 20s, he was originally from the Bogside area of the city.

His body was discovered on a green area between Eastway and Bligh's Gardens. The shooting is believed to have happened at around 1 am.

Police arrived at the scene at around 3 am and cordoned off a large area in the vicinity of St Mary's Church.

Reports from the area suggest the man, who is believed to have worked as a pizza delivery driver, may have been chased by a gang of armed men before he was shot.

Local priest, Fr Stephen McLaughlin, from St Mary's Church, described the shooting as "sickening."

"This young man was shot dead close to the church and a local primary school. He died in a brutal fashion," he said. "This is a nightmare for the family and it is sickening to think that someone could have been killed like this in our community."

Foyle SDLP Assembly member Pat Ramsey said the rumour in the area was that the murdered man was a victim of mistaken identity.

He said: "The word on the ground is that it was mistaken identity. Taxi drivers in the city have a great reputation for getting it right and one said to me, `They got the wrong fella.'"

Fr McLaughlin, who raised concern about the police response, said: "It would have been 3.30 a.m. or later than that actually before they (the police) began to cordon off the location."

Chief Inspector Chris Yates said it was a "cold blooded shooting" and that police were at the scene "as soon as was practical".

Chief Inspector Chris Yates said: "Within ten minutes of the call coming in it was confirmed the victim was en route to hospital and there was no risk to him from us not attending the scene."

He said that "the initial call was that the marksmen were lying in wait in the area".

"So under those circumstances, and with the recent terrorist incident in Fermanagh in which two police officers were nearly killed, we're not going to go rushing in."

Story to be updated throughout the day