A murder investigation has been launched after a shooting claimed a man’s life this afternoon in the Riviera estate in Southampton.

Gunshots were reported in the neighbourhood at about 3.45pm. A video from the scene this afternoon showed a heavy police presence.

Police attended Riviera Road and found “a male who had sustained what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds”.

A spokesman said officers immediately commenced lifesaving efforts until the arrival of emergency medics.

However, the wounded man was pronounced dead at King Edward VII Hospital.

Residents in the area of Riviera Road or the nearby Railway Trail were asked to call the main police number, 295-0011, with any potential information.

Officers wish to speak with “anyone who may have seen two men travelling on a dark-coloured cycle in the area of Horseshoe Bay Road and environs, between 3pm and 5pm today”, the spokesman added.

“Residents in these neighbourhoods are asked to review their CCTV camera footage to see whether they may have recorded any images of these individuals.”

The incident marks the island’s first gun murder of 2026. The last fatal incident was in December 2025, at Spruce Lane in Pembroke.

A resident of the area told The Royal Gazette that she was walking with her daughter along the Railway Trail when she got word of a shooting not far down the road from her residence.

She said she had feared for the safety of her partner, who was leaving for work at that time.

She: “I'm thinking, if he was here, would he have gotten shot? Did he just miss them?”

She described the neighbourhood as tight-knit and normally very peaceful.

“I'm 40 years old and this is the real first time I've experienced something like this. You've never heard of a shooting in Riviera — not in my 40 years.”

She added: “This neighbourhood is family. Riviera is literally family.

“Yes, sometimes the cops might drive through, but never for something to this degree.”

An area close to the scene today had a gun murder outside a home on Riviera Crescent in April 2014, which remains unsolved.

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