IRA gunman fired first, Saville inquiry told

A man described today how he heard a shot from an Official IRA gunman before he heard British army fire in the Bogside on Bloody Sunday.

The witness known as Republican Movement (RM) 1 said that after he heard the shot he confronted the sniper, seized the gun and hurled it at him.

He told the Saville Inquiry investigating the January 1972 killings of 13 civilians in Derry he was furious that anyone could have fired a weapon when there was such a large crowd attending the civil rights march.

RM1 said he rushed to the flat where the shot came from and confronted the gunman and his colleague.

“I just pulled it (the gun) from him and threw it down the stairs, pushing him after it.

“If he gave any explanation for his firing I was not for listening. I do not recall him telling me why he had fired.

“I felt strongly it should not have happened. I confirm that this was the first shot I heard and I had heard no army fire at the time.”

A former Official IRA gunman has already admitted to the inquiry that he fired a shot from a flat in Columbcille Court.

But OIRA 1 claimed he had fired after hearing that two men, Damien Donaghy and John Johnston, had been shot and wounded by the army.

RM1 told the inquiry that he did not recall hearing any live rounds or rumours that anyone had been wounded before the IRA shot was fired.

In his statement to the inquiry, he claimed he was in the Kell’s Walk area when he heard the shot coming from a building behind him.

But under questioning from counsel to the inquiry Alan Roxburgh, he conceded he may have been mistken about where he was standing when he heard the shot.

“I may therefore have been wrong about where I was standing, as it seems from what I understand others have said, that the shot was fired from Columbcille Court.”

Edwin Glasgow, representing most of the soldiers, asked RM1 if he was sure there was a large crowd around when the IRA sniper opened fire.

RM1 replied: “I would not say a large crowd. Most of the crowd had moved on over to Free Derry Corner but there was quite a lot of people about.”

The barrister asked if he would have remembered if the gunman had said that he had fired at a soldier they believed had just shot two civilians.

The witness told him: “I think so, yes.”

Meanwhile, it was revealed that a former member of the Provisional IRA, known as PIRA 9, has refused to give evidence to the Saville Inquiry.

Chairman Lord Saville said: “The information I have received about PIRA 9 is that he has resolutely refused to co-operate with the inquiry in the sense either of being interviewed or giving a statement.”

Lord Saville said that the inquiry had issued a subpoena ordering PIRA 9 to attend but he had ignored it.