Loyalists kill student at Catholic taxi firm

EXTREME loyalists yesterday maintained their lethal activities in Northern Ireland by killing a Catholic teenager as he played a gaming machine at a taxi office in Co Armagh, writes David McKittrick.

The latest killing means that exactly the same number of people, 29, have died so far this year as in the same period of 1993. After a comparative lull in killings early in the year, there have been 18 killings in four weeks.

Eight of the 18 recent killings have been the work of loyalist groups, which have been active in Belfast and in other areas. Yesterday's incident represented an attempt to carry out multiple killings of Catholics.

A gunman entered the office of a Catholic-owned taxi firm in Lower English Street in Armagh city and opened fire on people inside. He killed Gavin Patrick McShane, a 17-year-old student from Keady, Co Armagh, and seriously injured another student.

A taxi driver was also hit as the gunman fired shots around the office. At one stage he pointed the gun at the owner's wife, but it jammed and he did not fire. Neither of the students had any connection with the business. A police spokesman said the incident was a purely sectarian attack, describing it as 'a barbaric crime carried out by evil people'.