At that moment, as eyewitnesses reported, one of the soldiers shot a round into the crowd, with the rest of the troop following.
The deaths and injuries of so many people did not halt the uprisings.
The four-day national holiday has been created by postponing the usual late-May public bank holiday to Thursday 2 June, and introducing an additional public bank holiday on Friday 3 June, as the Queen's official Platinum Jubilee day.