A young woman who opened up her own hairdressing salon has been executed by a gunman who burst inside and shot her dead at point-blank range.

Natalia Sousa, 26, was on the phone with a customer when the armed man went into the salon and shot her dead with two bullets in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The gunman then ran out of the shop and fled having said nothing at all.

Police have confirmed they are investigating and trying to track down the identity of the mystery shooter.

They are also looking into the family’s claims that the young woman had recently separated from her boyfriend, who reportedly made death threats, saying that he was going to shoot her dead in her salon.

Natalia made it clear that she regarded herself as single and was looking forward to putting her energy into her business and a new start when she was murdered.

The family said that her ex had refused to accept that she wanted to break up with him and go ahead without him, and had threatened revenge if she did not get back together with him.

Police are reportedly looking for the ex-boyfriend and made no comment on the family’s claims.