Bloody Sunday Inquiry: An Official IRA sniper, who opened fire on a British soldier in Derry on Bloody Sunday, said yesterday he only fired the single shot from a .303 rifle after the first two of the 26 civilians shot by paratroopers had already been wounded.
Known as Official IRA 1, the witness told the inquiry into the Bloody Sunday killings that if he had not opened fire on the soldier whom he believed had shot casualties Damien Donaghy and John Johnston, it would have been difficult for him to have to face the families of the soldiers' victims.
Mr Donaghy and Mr Johnston were the first of the 13 civilians wounded when paratroopers opened fire on civil rights marchers in the Bogside area of Derry on January 30th, 1972. Thirteen others were killed after the paratroopers were deployed into the Bogside.
The witness said that along with another Official IRA member, he went to remove a damaged rifle from a static arms dump at Colmcille Court in the Bogside during the march. They had planned to "split the weapon in two" and move it to the Creggan area of the city. He said as they were moving the weapon, he heard three shots and was told minutes later that "a couple of boys had been shot".
From his position in Colmcille Court, he saw a soldier on the roof of a building on the edge of the Bogside pointing his rifle at the marchers. His Official IRA colleague told him the soldier was the one who had shot the two civilians in nearby William Street. "It was clear to me from the fact that he was aiming that he might fire again," the witness said.
"I took a split second decision and fired an aimed shot. The weapon I had was not in good condition. Whilst it had the rear 'V' sight, there was no front sight with which the rear sight could be aligned. The chance of hitting the soldier was, therefore, very remote. At the time the other volunteer with me said 'I think you have hit him' or something like that. Certainly the soldier disappeared from my view but of course it may have been a reaction to being shot at. When I next looked, the guy had gone."
The witness said he did not fire his single shot in panic.
"There was no panic. I believed firstly that the soldier I could see was the guy who had shot the two people and secondly that he was about to do the same again. At the very least I thought I ought to try and prevent him doing it again. If he had shot someone else and I had done nothing when I had had the soldier in my sights, how could I have faced the families of the people who would have been killed, having done nothing? That is what went through my mind at the time."
OIRA 1, who has been granted anonymity but who is giving his evidence in public in Derry's Guildhall, said that because the Official IRA had no operational plan for Bloody Sunday, he and his colleague had no backup after he had fired.
"There was no support. This incident had just happened out of the blue and had not been planned. If we had not been standing where we were when we heard of the people being shot, I would never have fired. However, I had fired and I knew that we needed to get away from there."
The witness said he and his colleague put the rifle into the boot of a car and both of them then split up. Later that evening he attended a meeting of the Official IRA's command staff in Derry.
"I thought it was a waste of time talking. This was just another meeting and I was angry enough personally to want to go straight across to Ebrington Barracks, or over to the Waterside, to take people out," he said.
He continues with his evidence when the inquiry resumes on Monday.