This is the harrowing moment the wife of a former Rangers footballer wept over his body after he was gunned down while buying clothes for their baby daughter.

Arnold Peralta was shot 18 times in a drive-by attack in the car park of a shopping mall in his native Honduras yesterday.

Horrific video shows his devastated partner, Vanessa Oliva, crying over his body which is covered with a white sheet next to his Porsche Cayenne.

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Inconsolable: Vanessa Oliva, the wife of former Rangers footballer Arnold Peralta, weeps over his body after the player was killed in a drive-by shooting in a shopping mall car park in his native Honduras

Peralta had returned to his car after reportedly buying clothes for his newborn daughter when he was killed

Witness claim the attackers said nothing to Peralta as he returned to his vehicle and pumped him with up to 18 bullets in the head and chest, according to El Heraldo.

The newspaper reported that he had been shopping with his wife to buy clothes for their three-month-old daughter Camilla.

Police investigating the shooting in Peralta's home city of La Ceiba have ruled out robbery as a motive because none of his belongings had been taken.

Commissioner Leonel Sauceda said: 'Apparently it was one or two individuals who were traveling in a vehicle – a motorcycle or car.'

According to The Guardian, a security guard at the mall has been arrested for refusing to hand over video footage of the attack, but no other arrests have been made in relation to the shooting.

Detectives are now examining the footage and have so far recovered 11 9mm bullet casings.

Peralta, who had been playing for Olimpia in the capital Tegucigalpa, was on vacation back in his home town and is the latest victim of violence in Honduras, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world, spurred by gang warfare.

It emerged today that Peralta had condemned the country's gangland crime in a tweet a year ago that appeared to predict his death.

He said: 'How hard our country with so many criminals killing each time, as is fashionable to kill! Such people do not deserve to be alive.'

Peralta (pictured with his wife Vanessa Oliva) was gunned down in his home city of La Ceiba in Honduras)

The couple (pictured outside the Louvre in Paris) had recently celebrated the birth of their daughter Camilla

Peralta's wife Vanessa Oliva was reportedly shopping with the footballer when he was gunned down

Peralta (pictured outside Le Louvre museum in Paris) is the latest victim of violence in Honduras, which has one of the highest murder rates in the world, spurred by gang warfare

Earlier, the player's father, Carlos Peralta, also confirmed the death at a news conference, saying: 'This is terrible.

'They killed my exemplary son. I can't say more because of the pain I feel.'

Osman Madrid, director of Honduras's national soccer federation, said: 'This is a tragic death that the national sport mourns.'

The 26-year-old, whose 18-month stay at Rangers ended in January of this year, was in the Honduras squad for the London Olympics in 2012.

Peralta's name was trending on Twitter, where Rangers fans remembered him fondly as a committed player who endeared himself to the Ibrox crowd with his work rate.

He made 29 appearances for the Ibrox club, scoring once.

Rangers will hold a minute's silence before kick-off this weekend in his memory.

The club said in a statement: 'Rangers Football Club is deeply shocked and saddened to hear the tragic news about former player Arnold Peralta.

'Our thoughts go out to Arnold's family and friends at this very difficult time.'

The Ladbrokes Championship club confirmed a minute's silence will be held before Saturday's league meeting with Morton while Mark Warburton's team will don black armbands as a mark of respect.

Arnold Peralta, who played for Rangers between 2013 and 2015, has been shot dead in his native Honduras

Peralta, pictured on November 2 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, helped Rangers to win Scottish League One in 2014, before being released in January of this year

The midfielder won 24 caps for his country, and represented Honduras at the London 2012 Olympic Games

In mourning: Tributes are left on the gates at Ibrox Stadium in memory of Honduran international Arnold Peralta who played for Rangers until January

Fellow Honduran Emilio Izaguirre, who plays for fierce rivals Glasgow Celtic, paid tribute to his compatriot.

He told STV: 'He stayed in Glasgow for two years and every day I saw him and now I feel so bad.'

Kris Boyd, who spent six months playing alongside the midfielder at Rangers, said: 'It's just tragic. I don't really know the ins and outs of it, so all I can do is pass on my condolences to his family.

'He was always somebody who would come into training with a smile on his face. He worked hard and did everything to the best of his ability.

'I only knew Arnie for a few months but I knew exactly how he was as a person. The biggest tragedy for me is that there is a partner there now who will have to bring up a child by herself.'

Current Gers striker Nicky Clark posted a picture of himself hugging Peralta on Twitter as well as the following message: 'Horrible news this morning, rip Arnie.'