By October 26th, two Protestant gunmen, wearing yellow coveralls and disguised as workmen, took revenge for the fishshop bombing. The Ulster Freedom Fighters, a Protestant right-wing military group, immediately claimed responsibility for the atrocity. Extra police and army troops were dispatched to the area to attempt to head-off additional reprisals, which had been threatened by outraged Protestants. The 27th of the month, however, showed the difficulty of of stopping extremists, bent on revenge. According to police sources, a gunman from the Ulster Freedom Fighters attempted to open fire on a crowd of Catholics in a pub when his submachinegun misfired.
Customers say that they dived for cover and that the gunman fled after the weapon jammed.
Worse, was a similar attack by a masked gunman that took place on Saturday night, October 30th, in a bar near Londonderry. That attack was far more deadly in its effect. Reportedly, the gunman fired a long burst, calmly reloaded, and emptied another magazine into the crowded pub. People dropped to the floor, many of them bleeding from gaping wounds caused by the 9mm bullets. Police and ambulances rushed to the scene, but not before the gunman had fufilled his vengence and fled into the foggy Irish night.