Police in the Philippines investigating the fatal New Year's Eve shooting of a local official did not have to look further than the last photograph he took. It led to the arrest of two suspects.

The picture, taken outside the man's house in Manila, shows a man aiming his gun from behind the victim's smiling three-member family, seconds before he was shot.

The relatives – Reynaldo Dagsa's wife, daughter and mother-in-law – are seen standing beside the family car, which has its lights on, and the gunman, wearing a baseball cap, is bracing himself against the vehicle, pointing his gun at Dagsa. His face is slightly obscured by the gun. In the right-hand corner of the photograph is a man police identified as the assassin's lookout.

The car was parked along an alley outside the Dagsas' house.

Police said Dagsa was shot seconds after the photo was taken and died of wounds by the time he reached hospital.