father allegedly shot dead in front of terrified school children as he waited to pick his son from school

dad was fatally shot in front of terrified school children while waiting to pick his son up from school

Jim Donegan, who is in his 40s, was sitting in his car at 3 pm yesterday, waiting for his son, when he was shot dead at point-blank range in Belfast.

He was shot as many as five times in what was branded a "gangland-style execution". Police are searching for a man in his 40s and wearing a high vis security vest.

A security source said:

It was an execution in broad daylight.

A man shot while waiting in his car - that is for all intents and purposes a gangland-style execution. It was up close, personal and point blank.

You have to ask, was the shooter wearing that vest to blend into his surroundings? It’s been planned and thought through.

The normal dissident shooting would be a hit-and-run. And would any dissident Republican groups risk an own goal, not just outside a school but also at kicking out time? It’s not their style.

This feels very Southern, like the Kinahans, and police will be ruling no one out at this stage.

SDLP Councillor Tim Attwood described the shooting as "madness".

Speaking from the scene, he said:

It is absolutely sickening that a gun was fired in the vicinity of both a primary and secondary school in West Belfast today.