The masked gunman who carried out the gun attack on Derry's police headquarters yesterday morning was caught on video firing up to 30 shots from an AK-47 automatic rifle.
The incident was recorded on three police close circuit television cameras mounted on a perimeter fence surrounding the Strand Road station. The cameras are positioned less than 15 metres from the junction of Asylum Road and Queen Street from where the gunman opened fire.
The police believe that his intended victims were a group of construction workers building an extension inside the police station, but just over an hour after the attack the builders had resumed their work.
It is understood that the "Real IRA" carried out the attack. Although no-one was injured, three civilian cars parked outside the police station were raked with gunfire. There were also multiple bullet marks on the station's perimeter wall and on the main station building.
The gunman, who wore a tartan scarf to conceal his identity, got out of a maroon coloured Cavalier car, which was parked at the junction, and fired in the direction of the station. After he discharged the shots from the automatic rifle, he was driven away by an accomplice. The vehicle was later found burned out at Quarry Street in the Brandywell area of the city, about one mile from the police station.
Dozens of civilians in the immediate vicinity of the shooting incident, which happened at 9.35 a.m., ran for cover behind parked cars and the workmen inside the police base also dived for cover.
Several patients in a nearby medical centre screamed when they heard the shots. "I just can't believe this has happened. I thought days like this were long over", said Dr Joe McEvoy of the Bayview Medical Centre.
"When I went onto the street I discovered that my car was one of those riddled with bullets."
Ms Mary Burke, supervisor of a local creche said: "Thank God the children hadn't arrived. What happened was terrible, but it could have been so much worse", she said. PSNI Inspector Bryan Hume said he believed it was a miracle that no-one was either injured or killed.
The Mayor of Derry, Sinn Féin councillor Gearóid Ó hÉara, described the shooting incident as an attack on the peace process.
"It was both stupid and pointless and those responsible for it are devoid of either strategy or vision and are indulging in militarism solely for its own sake."