Pair quizzed in wake of killing released unconditionally
TERRIFIED pupils feared they were caught up in an American-style school shooting in the aftermath of Jim Donegan’s murder, a principal has said.
Bronagh Farrimond described how her students were thrown into a state of panic after the killing just yards from the Christian Brothers’ School (CBS) on west Belfast’s Glen Road on Tuesday afternoon.
“Some children believed there was a shooting in the school,” she said. “People started running from the scene and that caused more anxiety. Teachers were comforting distressed pupils and reassuring them that the school was not under attack and neither were they.”
A passer-by in the area at the time of the shooting said they were greeted by a scene of chaos and confusion.
“No one knew what people were running from,” they told this newspaper.
“Once details started spreading down the road, little children were asking, ‘Is it my daddy, is he okay?’”
At the same time, teachers from St Mary’s Christian Brother’s School, which is close to CBS, were putting coats and cardigans over the windows of Mr Donegan’s car to prevent children from seeing the father-oftwo’s lifeless body slumped over the wheel of his vehicle.
The 43-year-old died instantly after a lone gunman approached his Porsche Panamera, which was parked outside St Mary’s, and fired eight shots.
Mr Donegan, who was waiting to collect his son, was hit in the chest and head.
The 13-year-old missed the assassination of his father by just a few seconds.
He was seen running back towards St Mary’s before staff took him inside and attempted to console him.
The head of CBS was forced to implement the school’s critical incident plan for the first time to spare her pupils from the traumatising scene.
“It’s something that we review regularly but hope to never use,” Mrs Farrimond said.
“We managed to calm the pu- Pupils of St Mary’s Christian Brothers’ Grammar School in west Belfast return to school yesterday and pass the scene of the fatal shooting of James Donegan (inset left with wife Laura) on Tuesday
TWO men arrested by detectives investigating the murder of Jim Donegan have been released unconditionally.
The men, aged 49 and 51, had been arrested on Wednesday evening after searches in the west Belfast area.
Meanwhile, Mr Donegan’s widow
pils down very quickly and reassure them that they were safe.”
The school re-opened yesterday, less than 48 hours after the murder took place in broad daylight, in order to reinforce the same message,
Mrs Farrimond praised her “amazing” staff for helping to has paid a loving tribute to him. Laura Donegan issued a heartfelt statement as part of a family death notice in the Irish News.
The couple had been married for two years.
“Love isn’t finding someone you can live with, it’s finding someone you can’t live without,” the tribute
usher distraught students to safety.
“I have to commend staff at St Mary’s too,” she added. “Our emergency plan fell into place perfectly, and how teachers responded across the road was amazing.”
Life resumed as normal yes- read. “Always remembered by his loving family and family circle.”
The family asked that donations be made to charity Macmillan nurses in lieu of flowers.
Mrs Donegan was seen in a distressed state at the scene of the murder outside a school on Tuesday evening.
terday morning as hundreds of pupils returned to the scene for the first time.
Floral tributes served as the only visible reminder of the horror as children hopped off buses and out of cars in the morning rush hour.
Inside the school, however,
staff were all too aware of the consequences of the shocking murder.
“We provided a safe environment for children to reflect on what happened and to talk about it,” Mr Farrimond said.
“Rather than having a big assembly, we extended form class in the morning.
“But then we put our Christmas tree up and carried on as normal.”
Counselling will be offered to any member of staff or pupil who need it.
Parents have also been instructed to take their children to a GP or an accident and emergency department if they have any concerns outside of school hours.
Less than half a mile down the road from the scene of the shooting, the sound of children’s laughter returned to the playground of St Teresa’s Primary School. Many pupils from the school passed the area of the shooting as it happened.
The mother of one pupil described how her nine-year-old daughter missed witnessing the it by just a few minutes.
“Thankfully, her school finishes a bit earlier, so we managed to get on up the road,” the relieved woman said.
Many parents expressed similar thanks, including a mumof-three who described how her 10-year-old son mistook the gunshots for tyres exploding.
“I had only just heard about what had happened when he (her son) walked in the door,” she explained.
“The first thing I asked him was, ‘Did you see anything?’
“He said he heard tyres exploding. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him what he had actually heard.”
The “disgusted” parent was eventually forced to have the “completely inappropriate” conversation with her son.
“I tried to stop him from finding out, but how can you?” she asked. “He was in complete shock, but we were both just so thankful that he didn’t see it.
“It is absolutely disgusting what happened — nobody wants their child to witness something this horrific.”
The furious mum said she believed the revulsion felt by so many in the community meant that residents would be very willing to talk to the police.
“Nobody wants their child murdered or (for their child) to have to watch someone else get murdered,” she added.
“We just want our streets to be safe.”
A local care-worker whose young daughter narrowly avoided witnessing the murder said elderly and vulnerable patients were left abandoned in the subsequent chaos, which brought traffic to a standstill.
“Everything about this murder was shocking, but what happened after was awful too,” she said.
“I care for a lot of people in this area and I was unable to get anywhere near them.
“I know that my colleagues experienced the same problem.”
❝ No one wants their child to see a murder. We all just want our streets to be safe