I kill ... I wound ... I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh. Deuteronomy 32:39-42
The high priest Jehoiada arranged an agreement between God, the king, and the people. The king and the people would be God's people.
Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD's people; between the king also and the people. 2 Kings 11:17
And as God's people, they would destroy the religious symbols of all other Gods, and kill their priests. So God's people went into a murderous rampage. They started by killing Mattan, the priest of Baal, at the altar.
All the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. 11:18
And finished by killing Queen Athaliah.
And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was in quiet: and they slew Athaliah with the sword beside the king's house. 11:20