2009 Massereene Barracks Shooting - Shooting

Shooting

At about 21:40 that evening, four off-duty British soldiers of the Royal Engineers walked outside the barracks to receive a pizza delivery from two delivery men. As the exchange was taking place, two gunmen in a nearby car (a green Vauxhall Cavalier) opened fire with Romanian AKM automatic rifles. The firing lasted for more than 30 seconds with more than 60 shots being fired. After the initial burst of gunfire, the gunmen walked over to the wounded soldiers and fired again at close range, killing two of them. Those killed were Sappers Mark Quinsey from Birmingham and Patrick Azimkar from London. The other two soldiers and two deliverymen were wounded. The soldiers were wearing desert fatigues and were to be deployed to Afghanistan the next day. A few hours later, the car involved was found abandoned near Randalstown, eight miles from the barracks.

A Dublin-based newspaper, the Sunday Tribune, received a phone call from a caller using a recognised Real IRA codeword. The caller claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the Real IRA, adding that the civilian pizza deliverymen were legitimate targets as they were "collaborating with the British by servicing them".

The shootings were the first British military fatalities in Northern Ireland since Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick was shot dead by the Provisional IRA in February 1997, during the period known as "The Troubles". The attack came days after a suggestion by Northern Ireland's police chief, Sir Hugh Orde, that the likelihood of a terrorist attack in Northern Ireland was at its highest level for several years. The barracks were shut down in 2010 as part of a further reduced presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland.