In less than half a day, the news that the occupying forces and the security troops had opened fire on the crowd spread across both banks of the Istel River, and more and more people surged towards the Governor's Mansion. Some carried weapons they had obtained from the hands of law enforcement officers, while others armed themselves with weapons from the soldiers serving in the Killian Barracks. The soldiers in this barracks, all strong lads hauled in by ropes from the countryside and deemed individuals "with problematic thoughts and backgrounds," were consigned to long-term physical labor such as construction work after enlistment and were discriminated against all year long. These soldiers, empathetic with the masses, handed over the weapons from the barracks they guarded. Nonetheless, the majority of the civilians were sorely lacking firearms and most gripped stones and wooden sticks, with even more having nothing but their fists and saliva to fight with.