7
Sergeant Chisholm realised what the man was about to do. He lowered his carbine and began to move forward but he had only taken two steps when the shotgun exploded and the man’s head disappeared in a shower of blood and brains that splattered across the climbing bars. The sound was deafening in the combined space and the sergeant’s ears were ringing.
Neil Sampson groaned and then threw up, bending double as his chest heaved and vomit splattered over the polished wooden floor.
Sergeant Rawlings went over to the body, picked up the shotgun and broke it open, ejecting the cartridges and placing it back on the ground. ‘Weapon is clear.’
‘Let control know what’s happened,’ said Chisholm. ‘Tell them to send SOCO in.’
Sampson dropped down onto his knees and threw up again. The sergeant went over to three officers who were standing around one of the boys that had been shot. Ricky Gray was crying silently as he stared down at the body. The sergeant put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Back outside, Ricky,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing more for us to do here.’
‘Why would anyone kill a kid?’
‘Who knows?’ said Chisholm. ‘Come on, outside.’ Rawlings walked over to the second boy but even from a distance it was obvious that he was stone cold dead.
The officer shook away the sergeant’s hand. He was still holding his carbine, his finger inside the trigger guard.
‘Stand down, Ricky. Come on.’
‘F*cking bastard!’ The officer turned on his heel and walked across the gym to the dead man. It looked as if he was about to shoot the corpse but instead he drew back his right leg and began to violently kick the body, cursing and swearing with every blow.
Chisholm hurried over and grabbed Ricky’s arm. He pulled him away from the body. ‘Get a f*cking grip, will you. That body’s got to be post mortemed and there’ll be hell to pay if it’s black and blue.’
‘He shot kids. Who the f*ck walks around a school shooting kids?’
‘Pull yourself together, Ricky. If the top brass see you like this you’ll be off the squad.’
Ricky nodded and took a deep breath to steady himself. ‘Okay.’
The sergeant released his grip on the officer’s arm and jerked a thumb at the door. ‘Get back to the vehicle and take a chill pill. The day you start making it personal is the day when you go back on the beat. Got it?’
‘Got it, sir.’ He headed out of the door, passing two uniformed officers. One was a superintendent. Chisholm looked down at the body of the shooter and had to fight the urge to kick it. Ricky had been wrong to lose his temper but what he’d said was bang on. What sort of nutter would walk around a school shooting kids?
The superintendent walked up to Chisholm and nodded curtly. ‘Are you and your men okay?’ he asked.
Chisholm appreciated the concern and nodded. ‘All good. No shots fired.’
The superintendent smiled tightly. ‘Thank heaven for small mercies,’ he said. ‘The way the press is just now they’d be trying to make it out that we shot the kids.’ He grimaced. ‘This is a mess.’ He gestured at the shooter’s body. Blood was still pooling around it. ‘Any idea who he is?’
Chisholm shook his head. ‘Looks like a farmer.’
‘Did he say anything before he topped himself?’
‘Something about it being all right and there was no need for it.’
The superintendent frowned. ‘Need for what?’
‘I think he meant there was no need for us to shoot him because he was going to do it himself.’
The superintendent sighed. ‘Why didn’t he do that in the first place? Why kill the kids? I’d understand it if he was looking for suicide by cop, but if he was planning to kill himself anyway he could have done us all a favour and thrown himself under a train.’
Chisholm scratched his neck. ‘CID been informed?’
‘Yes, but taking their own sweet time, as usual.’ The superintendent looked at his watch. ‘SOCO are on their way, too.’ He looked around the gym, flinching at the bodies of the two children. ‘My kids are about their age,’ he said. ‘Why would anyone do that?’
Chisholm didn’t say anything. He knew that the question was rhetorical.
The superintendent noticed the vomit on the floor. ‘What happened there?’
‘Young Neil. I sent him outside.’
The superintendent squared his shoulders. ‘Right, keep this area secure until SOCO get here. I’ll be outside, the press’ll be over us like a rash.’