Gun killer's secret dies with him

his senseless shooting spree with him to the grave.

Alan Parkhill, a 24-year-old, clean-living bachelor from Glenburn

Walk, Baillieston, suddenly and without warning went berserk in the city

centre in the early hours of Sunday morning. With his own Browning 9mm

handgun he shot six people, killing one of them, student Thomas

McIntyre.

He then turned the pistol on himself, firing one bullet through his

head. Parkhill was rushed to the Royal Infirmary where he was placed on

a life support system. Detectives remained at his bedside. They left

yesterday when Parkhill succumbed to his injuries without ever regaining

consciousness.

Despite the gunman's death, Strathclyde CID officers intend to

continue their inquiries. As yet they have no clue as to why the

normally mild-mannered young blacksmith, one of four brothers from a

decent family, should have lost control of himself and started shooting.

A motive for the crime is as far away as ever.

Parkhill had been driving his Land-Rover in Renfield Street, busy with

late-night pedestrians, at 1.40am. A young woman, Miss Tracy Patrick, of

Glenmalloch Place, Elderslie, was dodging cars in a bid to cross the

street. Parkhill's vehicle struck her.

Mr McIntyre, aged 20, of Garfield Avenue, Bellshill, rushed to her

aid. As he tended to the injured girl, Parkhill apparently left his

vehicle and shot him dead. He then fired indiscriminately into the

crowd, injuring another five people.

Detectives investigating the shooting said that there was no obvious

reason for Parkhill's actions. He had no connection with any of his

victims.

He had been at a birthday party in the city. He had been friendly and

had left the party on good terms. There was no suggestion that the

subsequent accident had been his fault. No one had remonstrated with him

at the scene.

A post mortem examination on Parkhill's body is likely to be held and

detectives are anxious to discover if the dead man had suffered any

sudden illness, like a blood clot to the brain, which could give some

reason for his actions.

However, there is still the question of why Parkhill, described by

friends as quiet and a loner, had his pistol with him in the car. Police

have confirmed that he held a permit for the gun and that he was a

member of the Balornock Gun Club in the north of the city. He had never

been in trouble with the police before. At one time he had been a member

of Glasgow and District Pistol Club.

He worked as a blacksmith for Anvil Metal Fabrications in the

Shettleston district of Glasgow, where his older brother Robert is

employed as a site supervisor.

Managing director Mr Len Flanagan said Alan joined the firm six years

ago, and served his apprenticeship as a blacksmith-welder. ''He was a

nice guy -- quiet, reserved and a good ambassador for the company,''

said Mr Flanagan.

''He worked whenever you wanted him to, and he put himself out for his

work. If everybody was like that, you would be all right in any

business. Everybody is shocked, stunned, and horrified.''

Mr Flanagan said Parkhill came from a ''very respectable'' family.

Mr Terry McCarthy, secretary of the Scottish Pistol Association, said

last night: ''He was not affiliated to the Scottish Pistol Association,

and, as far as we know, he was not a member of any club which is

affiliated to us.

''The only knowledge we have of him, as far as clubs go, is that he

had been a member of the Glasgow and District Pistol Club. He may have

been a member of a club which was not affiliated to the SPA.''

Strathclyde CID are anxious to solve the mystery of why the incident

took place. Not only do they want to satisfy their own minds, they also

have to consider the possibility of a fatal accident inquiry being held

at a later date.

Scots Labour MPs tabled a Commons motion last night calling for

tighter controls on gun clubs. Mr Jimmy Hood (Clydesdale) said: ''If the

choice is between banning clubs or allowing them to continue as sources

for weapons for violent criminals and mentally unstable individuals,

then the clubs should be banned.''

Labour Front Bench spokesman on Scottish affairs Mr Brian Wilson, said

last night: ''This is another tragic case which calls into question the

effectiveness of controls over the possession of lethal weapons.''

''I have raised with Scottish Office Ministers in the past the

question of handgun control, particularly through gun clubs, and I will

do so again. The bottom line is that nobody should be able to walk about

in public with one of these things, which have no legitimate purpose

outside the confines of a club.''

The Scottish Police Federation is to press for greater restrictions on

the possession of firearms and says that it may well be that gun clubs,

especially those where handguns are used, will have to be curbed in the

interests of the public.

Mr Ian Black, chairman of the Strathclyde joint branch board of the

union, said: ''Once again, as at Hungerford, we have had someone

shooting people he did not know and with whom he had no quarrel.

''If firearms are to be used only in gun clubs and always stored there

they will become targets for terrorist organisations. If club members

are allowed to take them home, these weapons become targets for casual

theft and a potential danger to the public if anyone getting his hands

on one goes off the rails.

''The outlook must be for an all-round clampdown on firearms in

circulation.''

A neighbour, who wished to remain nameless, said of Alan Parkhill :

''He seemed to be a very decent, quiet sort of guy. Everyone liked him

and everyone seems to be shocked by what has happened.''

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Alan Parkhill practising with the Glasgow and District Pistol Club.