Kingsmill massacre was a mass shooting that took place on 5 January 1976 near the village of Whitecross in south County Armagh , Northern Ireland . Gunmen stopped a minibus carrying eleven Protestant workmen , lined them up alongside it and shot them . Only one victim survived , despite having been shot 18 times . A Catholic man on the minibus was allowed to go free . A group calling itself the South Armagh Republican Action Force claimed responsibility . It said the shooting was retaliation for a string of attacks on Catholic civilians in the area by Loyalists , particularly the killing of six Catholics the night before . The Kingsmill massacre was the climax of a string of tit-for-tat killings in the area during the mid-1970s , and was one of the deadliest mass shootings of the Troubles
killing of six Catholics the night before
Reavey and O'Dowd killings
Kingsmill massacre