The deadliest sniper in US history has been shot dead at point blank range by a veteran suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

Chris Kyle, 39, was blasted in the back by Eddie Ray Routh, 25, after taking him on an outing to a shooting range to help him deal with his demons.

Routh also allegedly shot dead his neighbor Chad Littlefield, 35, who was on the trip too.

Kyle’s death sparked a huge outpouring of tributes across America with many saying that he was a ‘true American hero’.

He notched up 255 kills during the Iraq war and became so feared by insurgents they put a $80,000 bounty on his head and nicknamed him al-Shaitan Ramad, or ‘the Devil of Ramadi’.

In one battle alone he shot dead 40 enemy soldiers although his greatest achievement was his longest kill - from a staggering 1.2 miles away.