Man shot dead as he drank with his pals at social club
Murder probe in Belfast after masked duo open fire
‘There’s total shock today’
A MURDER investigation has been launched after a man was shot dead in social club in west Belfast yesterday.
The incident happened at the Donegal Celtic Football Club on Suffolk Road yesterday afternoon.
It is understood the premises was busy with people when two masked gunmen burst in and opened fire with a handgun. The victim had been drinking with a number of friends at the time when he was shot multiple times.
The man is said to have been a close friend of Jim ‘JD’ Donegan, who was gunned down in front of hundreds of schoolchildren outside a west Belfast school in 2018.
By yesterday evening, the victim remained unidentified, though it is understood he was originally from west Belfast and had been living in Lisburn.
There was a heavy police presence in the aftermath of the shooting and those inside the club were brought out through a separate exit to preserve the crime scene.
The area was immediately cordoned off and two ambulances were on standby for anyone in need of medical support.
However, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service confirmed that no-one else was hurt in the incident.
A PSNI helicopter also surveyed the scene from above.
Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell said: ‘At approximately 2.45pm, police received a report that two masked men had entered the Donegal Celtic Sports and Social Club shortly before 2.30pm and shot the man a number of times. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
‘Both gunmen are believed to have made their escape on foot along Suffolk Road.
‘The investigation is at a very early stage and I would urge anyone with information or anyone who was in the Suffolk Road area at the time the shooting took place and seen two men running from the club or who may have captured dashcam footage to contact us on 101 quoting reference number 1120 02/10/22,’ he said.
Sinn Féin MP for west Belfast Paul Maskey said the community was shaken by the incident.
‘There’s total shock in this community with the offence that happened in Donegal Celtic today,’ he said as he visited the scene. ‘My thoughts and sympathies are with this man’s family.
‘I personally don’t know the victim but what I do know is that there’s a family there and our thoughts and our sympathies are with this man’s family at this stage. He continued: ‘Obviously they’re grieving at this particular stage and they will be looking for assistance from the community as well.
‘People are sending their condolences to this man’s family,’ he said, reiterating how deeply shocked the community were. Mr Maskey urged anyone with information to come forward to police as soon as possible.
‘I condemn those responsible. There is no place for guns on our streets,’ he said.
Jim Donegan, 43, was shot dead sitting behind the wheel of an €85,000 Porsche as he waited to pick up his 13-year-old son outside St Mary’s Grammar School on the Glen Road in 2018.
Dissident republicans were said to be behind the killing of the west Belfast man, who was a major player in the illegal drugs trade.
His murder took place less than a mile from Sunday’s fatal shooting.
Police have previously attributed the murder to the INLA.
They now believe another republican group, Óglaigh na hÉireann (ONH), was also involved in the shooting.