A 45-year-old man has been shot dead in Port Stephens in the NSW Hunter, having been found in a white ute which struck a tree.
David King was found with a gunshot wound inside a white Ford Ranger ute which on Sunday afternoon hit a tree in Port Stephens.
The Tanilba Bay resident died at the scene.
NSW Police said on Monday that officers have been told a man exited the ute and entered another vehicle - a Hyundai Sante Fe - soon after the crash.
A similar vehicle was later found burnt out in Heatherbrae.
Police are treating the incident as a targeted attack.
