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Police are hunting two gunmen who shot a radio presenter while he was on air.

Dad-of-two Joao Valdecir de Borba, 52, was killed after stepping outside the building where he worked during a musical interlude.

The former crime reporter had switched to presenting music-led programmes five months ago after receiving death threats.

The shocking crime occurred around 9pm local time on Thursday at the offices of Radio Difusora AM in Sao Jorge do Oeste in the southern Brazilian state of Parana near the border with Argentina.

There were conflicting reports yesterday about the circumstances leading to his death.

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A colleague who was with him the night of the murder claimed he had stepped outside for a cigarette but radio station coordinator Eliziane Conter said Borba was shot as he answered a knock on the studio’s front door.

The killers, who are still on the run, fled the scene in a dark-coloured Fiat Strada.

Joao, who had worked for Radio Difusora AM for ten years and was married with two children, died as he was rushed critically injured to hospital.

The Brazilian Association of Radio and Television Presenters revealed in February eight journalists had been shot dead in Brazil last year, making it the fifth most dangerous country in the world for reporters.