Loyalists who assassinated ousted paramilitary chief Jim Gray could have wounded children playing in the street, police said today.
Detectives searching for the ex-Ulster Defence Association commander's killers also disclosed they have searched 170 houses.
Jim Gray
Gray (47) was shot in the back outside his father's home in east Belfast last week as he shifted weightlifting gear from the boot of a car. The belief that former UDA associates carried out the murder has been strengthened by the discovery of material linked to the outlawed organisation, police said.
Detective Superintendent Simon Barraclough, heading the inquiry, revealed at least one stray bullet was fired. He said: "I can confirm that Jim Gray was shot twice in the back.
"I can also confirm at least one round missed Mr Gray and was embedded in the actual ground.
"I know for a fact at the time of night when Mr Gray was shot there was a large number of children actually playing in the street.
"Quite clearly the person who fired these rounds had absolutely no regard whatsoever for those children playing in the street."
Gray, the most flamboyant of the UDA's so-called inner council of six brigadiers, was kicked out in March. His lifestyle of cocaine binges, prostitution and thuggery came in for criticism.
Days after he was toppled Gray, nicknamed Doris Day because of his dyed blonde hair, year-round tan and chunky gold jewellery, was charged with money laundering after being stopped and arrested heading for the Border.
Even though police warned he would be murdered by former comrades to silence him, Gray secured bail in September. Within weeks he was dead. Four men and two women, including an ex-business associate of Gray, have so far been questioned and released without charge.
The one-time UDA boss in east Belfast was denied the showpiece funeral granted to Northern Ireland's paramilitary godfathers. Instead, just over a dozen men friendly with his pensioner father Jim snr turned up yesterday to see Gray buried beside his son Jonathan.
The 19-year-old had died of a drug overdose while in Thailand with his father.
PA