A 27-year-old parolee, who may have been dealing drugs, was gunned down and left for dead in Mount Vernon early Tuesday morning, police say.

According to authorities, the shots rang out just after midnight near the intersection of Fourth Avenue and 4th Street, fatally wounding Paul Laing.

Mount Vernon Police Commissioner David Chong says the victim was uncooperative with detectives, refusing to help them identify the gunman. Laing died at the Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx an hour later.

"We know he was shot once in the torso, but he has several wounds, so he could have been shot multiple times in torso," Chong says.

According to Chong, officers who arrived at the scene found five bags of cocaine inside Laing?s pockets and recovered three spent rounds of 9mm shells. Investigators hope the markings on the bullets will identify the gun.

Laing, who had a long criminal record, was recently released on parole from state prison, where he served time on gun charges. At this time, investigators do not have any suspects, but Chong says it appears Laing was targeted, since he was shot at close range. The commissioner adds that it is not clear whether the shooting was related to drugs.