Bloody Sunday Inquiry: A former paratrooper told the Bloody Sunday Inquiry yesterday he saw a civilian firing several shots from a handgun at soldiers deployed into the Bogside area of Derry on January 30th, 1972.
The now-retired paratrooper, known as Soldier 033, is the second soldier to tell the inquiry investigating the killings by paratroopers of 13 unarmed civil rights marchers 31 years ago that he saw a civilian gunman firing on the day.
Soldier 033, who was a lance corporal in the 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday, said that as well as seeing the gunman, he also came under fire from another gunman armed with a Thompson sub-machinegun.
The witness told the inquiry's three judges that as he advanced into the Bogside he heard a burst of between 15 to 20 Thompson machinegun rounds being fired.
"I saw strikes of bullets on the ground to the front and left of me, maybe about eight to 10 feet away. The gunfire caused me to stop," he told the inquiry.
"From the direction the dust kicked up, I thought that the shooting was coming towards me from the far side of the Rossville Flats car-park. It was very unusual to see a strike. Normally fire directed at us went over our heads when it missed, but I could see the shots hitting the ground. To me it suggested the fire was coming down from a height toward me," he added.
Soldier 033, who was a signalman on the day, said that after reporting on his radio that he had come under fire, he took cover behind the northern block of the flats complex from where he saw a body lying on a barricade close to the entrance to the complex.
"I could see a male lying on the barricade. I think his head was towards me and he was lying on his stomach and chest. I cannot remember anything about the clothing he was wearing. Another man was near to him. He was waving one hand. I assumed from what I saw that the man lying near him had been shot. I thought he was indicating that he wanted help," he said.
The witness said he then saw "part of an arm and a handgun" emerge from the entrance to Block 1. "It was very unusual to actually be able to see a gunman shooting a weapon because they were usually concealed. I did not shoot because the arm and weapon did not provide enough of a target to shoot at from that range." The inquiry was adjourned until May 6th.