DETECTIVES investigating the murder of Jim Donegan have released new CCTV footage that shows the killer walking alongside pupils.
The 43-year-old father-of-two was shot dead on the Glen Road, Belfast in broad daylight last Tuesday as he waited to pick up his 13-year-old son from school.
A 47-year-old man was arrested today in connection Mr Donegan’s death, while the PSNI are also investigating a potential dissident republican link to the murder.
As officers questioned parents on the school run today, one week on from the killing, Detective Chief Inspector Pete Montgomery described the new CCTV footage as ‘chilling’.
“The chilling CCTV footage shows [the gunman] walking down the Glen Road before stopping outside Christian Brothers Secondary School,” he said.
“He then activates and waits at the pedestrian crossing for the ‘green man’ before walking casually across the road in front of school children.
“He then shoots Jim and while fleeing from the scene, walks out in front of cars holding his hand up to stop them before jogging back along the Glen Road and into Clonelly Avenue, where he disappears.”
Dissident Republican link
The PSNI say many schoolchildren witnessed the murder and it is only through luck the incident didn’t result in multiple fatalities, with hundreds of pupils leaving three local schools at the time.
“I need to remove this dangerous man from our streets. A man who thought it was acceptable to traumatise young children,” he said.
“Children who should be dreaming of presents and the magic of Christmas, who, are now, instead having nightmares.”
He added: “A dissident republican element is a main line of enquiry and I am appealing to the community to help identify who put the lives of countless children at risk and murdered Jim.
“It was utter madness to fire a gun so close to the school as any one of these bullets could have ricocheted and hit the children standing nearby.”
A 47-year-old man was arrested under the Terrorism Act today in the Turf Lodge area of West Belfast in connection with the murder.
He has been taken to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite where he is currently being questioned by detectives.
