Police detectives investigating the "execution-style" shooting of a 55-year-old man in south Minneapolis' Regina neighborhood earlier this month said they are looking closely at the victim's personal relationships for a possible motive.

The man, whose name hasn't been released, was found outside of a townhouse in the 4300 block of 4th Avenue S. after police responding to a call of a shooting on Nov. 1, investigators said. The victim was hit six times at close range and remains on life support at a hospital, according to police.

Detectives said they have interviewed many acquaintances and family members of the man, a recent transplant from Chicago, to determine what may have lead up to the shooting, and so far have identified at least two "persons of interest:" a woman he had recently started dating and the woman's former girlfriend.

The Star Tribune generally doesn't name people who haven't been charged with a crime.

According to police, the man's family had always been leery of the woman, as well as her ex-lover, who was known to hire criminals "to do her dirty work for her."

Relatives told investigators that the man had been "ambushed" twice before, shortly after he started dating the woman. The first time, he was shot by a man in his 20s near his house in Chicago. Sometime later, he again had a gun pulled on him, only this time he fought back and managed to escape.

The man was hanging out outside the townhouse shortly after 11 a.m. on Nov. 1, when an as-yet-unidentified gunman walked up to him and opened fire, standing over him and shooting him "repeatedly, execution style" in the head and the body, police said. Witnesses saw the suspect running from the scene, heading eastbound.

No arrests have been announced.

Sgt. Catherine Michal, a department spokeswoman, said Tuesday that detectives were still exploring other possible motives for the shooting.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the department's anonymous tip line at 612-692-8477 (TIPS).

Libor Jany • 612-673-4064 Twitter:@StribJany