BOSTON (CBS) – The 55-year-old man shot and killed inside his home late Saturday night in Mattapan was a Department of Public Works employee who was previously targeted by gunfire.

Alex Allen was inside his home on Manchester Street when someone burst in and began firing, a family member told WBZ-TV. He was rushed to the hospital but pronounced dead. Saturday was Allen’s birthday.

This isn’t the first time Allen was the target of a shooting. Family said Allen, a Boston Department of Public Works employee, was also injured in a December shooting.

Police said at the time that Allen was driving to work when he was shot in the leg. They believed he was targeted.

In addition, someone fired shots at the family’s home prior to the December incident.

“They tried to kill him before,” lifelong friend Jovan Lacet told WBZ-TV. “My understanding is they came through the back the first time. The second time he was in his work vehicle and they came and caught him as he was going back to work. They shot up the vehicle.”

Lacet believes Allen was targeted over a legal dispute.

“Just take it to court. That’s what people do. That’s what civil people do. That’s the way it should have went. But they’ll pay the price. They will catch him,” he said.

Allen’s Sunday death marked the city’s 33rd homicide of the year.

“One homicide is too many,” Gross said at the scene. “So last year at this time, 32 and 32, so we are one up from last year. And again, we don’t want homicides…That’s why we want everyone to help out if they can.”

Anyone who witnessed the shooting is asked to call the police.