Guy Fawkes Day
Page 70
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From his vantage point above the Members' Entrance McLaughlin shouldered his Armalite and took aim at the first police van.
No casualties, just scare them off, Omar had told him. McLaughlin felt cheated, but he reckoned there would be time for real action soon enough, so he followed instructions and let off his first shot at the middle of the police van's windscreen.
The glass splintered into thousands of shards. There was shouting and the van reversed furiously towards the gate of New Palace Yard. Next he left off five shots in rapid succession into the bodywork of the other two police vehicles in the yard, before emptying the rest of the 30-round magazine into the cobble stones, just in front of a large crowd of police officers milling around in front of the entrance to the underground car park in New Palace Yard.
The ricochets sent the policemen diving for cover and sprawling across the pavement, and he thought he might have heard a yelp. The return fire was erratic, leaving McLaughlin with plenty of time to adjust his position. He would wait around a while longer to make sure they really did disappear.