Man shot 'without warning'

The inquiry is looking into events on Bloody Sunday

A British soldier shot a fleeing man on Bloody Sunday apparently without warning and then prevented a first aider from helping him, it has been claimed.

Eyewitness John Shiels told day 148 of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry that he went into shock after watching the incident in Glenfada Park North.

The Saville inquiry is investigating the events of 30 January 1972 when paratroopers opened fired on civil rights marchers in Londonderry killing 13 men. Another man died later.

Mr Shiels' written statement, made public as he took the stand in the Guildhall, described seeing the victim run empty-handed across the square that forms Glenfada Park North.

Lord Saville: Heading inquiry

He claimed he then spotted a helmeted soldier appear in the square, stand still, lift his rifle to his shoulder, take aim and shoot the man.

Junior counsel to the inquiry Bilal Rawat asked Mr Shiels: "You have described what the soldier did. Did you hear a warning shouted to the running man at all?"

He replied: "No."

Mr Shiels claimed that, at that point, a Knight of Malta volunteer paramedic approached the body which had fallen slightly beyond two other casualties.

Three men are believed to have been shot and to have fallen to the ground inside Glenfada Park North - Jim Wray and William McKinney, who died, and Joe Mahon, who survived his injuries.

I think I went into shock after seeing the soldier shooting the guy

John Shiels

Mr Shiels told the hearing: "The Knights of Malta person then was making to come out and the soldier jogged over and looked at the three bodies and then there was an argument between the Knights of Malta person and the soldier.

"The Knights of Malta person kept pointing to the guy I had seen shot and pointing at the medical bag ... to say keep away and that went on for a bit."

Rioting

He claimed he then heard shouting, the running of boots and the sound of English accents which the soldier in the courtyard responded to by whirling round and running off to his left.

Asked if he heard any other shots in the park, he replied: "I think I went into shock after seeing the soldier shooting the guy.

"After that I would not be sure whether there was a lot of shooting or any shooting after that."

Asked by Seamus Treacy QC, acting for relatives of the dead, if he could support soldiers' claims of full-scale rioting in Glenfada Park North that day, Mr Shiels replied: "No, there was no rioting whatsoever in Glenfada Park North."

The inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate, was established in 1998 and started taking oral evidence in March 2000.

It is expected to last two years.