RACINE - The 28-year-old man who was shot and killed in his home early this morning has been identified as Terrence D. Miller.

According to Racine County Medical Examiner Tom Terry, Miller suffered several gunshot wounds to his upper body. An autopsy is being performed this morning in Waukesha County, with results expected by this afternoon.

Racine Police said Miller was killed in a home invasion shortly before 1 a.m. at his residence in the 3300 block of Victory Avenue.

Reports said two masked men came through the front door of 3315 Victory Ave., and woke up a woman who was sleeping on the couch. The woman, who was the victim's mother, screamed when she saw the masked men.

Police said Miller came running down the stairs from the second floor. When he saw the suspects he tried to run back upstairs, but one of the suspects followed him and dragged him back to the living room, where they demanded "the money."

The offenders then dragged Miller into the kitchen. A few minutes later they brought him to the living room where they threw him onto a couch. One of the men headed for the door while the other shot Miller several times in the upper body. The second offender then followed the first out of the home.

Trudie Cudney, who lives across the street from the homicide scene, said she was just going to bed when she heard three "ping" sounds. "Then I heard her screaming," Cudney said. "It's very scary."

Police believe Miller was specifically targeted and may have known his attackers. The preliminary investigation suggests the conflict between them was over drugs.

The masked men fled the house in an unknown direction. Miller was pronounced dead at the scene.

In addition to Miller and his mother, his girlfriend and two children, ages 4 and 8 years old, were in the house during the incident. Police were called to the home at 1:01 a.m.

"We don't need this around our kids," said Cudney, who is the Neighborhood Watch block captain in the Rubberville area.

She said her daughter, who is 7, knows the 8-year-old boy who lives at 3315 Victory. Cudney said the family has only lived in the house for about three months. "They kept to themselves," she said. "I've seen them, that's about it."

She was surprised that the homicide might have been related to drugs. Cudney said she never saw cars coming and going from the house the way you might expect them to if someone in the home was involved in drugs.

"You would never think that of them," she said. "It's a scary situation."

The homicide shocked neighbors, who said the neighborhood has been quiet and crime-free for several months now

"It's actually a pretty quiet neighborhood," said Dennis Daquisto, who works for the owner of many of the duplex homes on Victory Avenue, including the one where the murder happened. "There's never been trouble there."

About a year ago, the Rubberville neighborhood was having issues with gangs, drugs and crime, Cudney said. They formed a Neighborhood Watch group and the Racine Police Department assigned a COP officer to work there several weeks ago.

Cudney said having the officer around "has been nice," and believed most of the criminal element had left the area.

"We thought we had this neighborhood cleaned up pretty good," she said.

Police had no suspects in custody Wednesday morning.

Anyone with information pertaining to this investigation is asked to contact the Racine Police Department at (262) 635-7700.

The Journal Times will continue to update this story as it develops.