Two men have been arrested by police investigating the murder of a father outside a West Belfast school.

43-year-old Jim Donegan was shot dead in his car as he waited to collect his teenage son on Tuesday.

Police have warned that there were hundreds of children leaving three schools in the area at the time – and a number of them witnessed the murder.

PSNI Detective Inspector Pete Montgomery said the gunman “walked past these children and fired a weapon eight times.”

“It is utter madness as any one of these bullets could have ricocheted and having been at the scene I cannot emphasise enough that it is sheer luck I am not investigating multiple fatalities,” he said.

He said police are working to find the killer, put him before a court and take the gun out of society.

“No child, no matter what age, should have to witness what happened,” he said.

He also thanked the teachers who “placed blankets around the car; held up coats so that school children did not have to look at the barbaric images.”

Yesterday police released CCTV footage of the moments before and after the murder.