A man told the Saville inquiry in Derry today he believed the British army was firing rubber bullets on Bloody Sunday until he saw a youth lying dead that day.
Mr Patrick McKeever (63) described watching the young victim fall to the ground in the car park of Rossville Flats and realising: "It was quite clear the boy was beyond redemption."
|
The shooting happened in the same area as the shooting ofJackie Duddy, the youth later filmed being carried away with the-then Father Edward Daly leading the way waving a blood-stained handkerchief.
Mr Duddy was one of the 13 Catholics shot dead on Bloody Sunday in 1972 when paratroopers opened fire during a civil rights demonstration.
Giving evidence to the inquiry Mr McKeever described running down Chamberlain Street in the Bogside as the troops entered the district, shaking off a soldier who tried to grab him and seeing another fire a round.
By the time he reached the bottom of the street more shots had been fired. He said: "I would say that I heard about 10 to 12 shots in the time that it took me to run from William Street to the end of Chamberlain Street.
"At this stage I still thought that rubber bullets were being fired." He was running across the car park when "a young fellow who was running . . . fell to the ground.""We ran on for a few yards and then stopped and turned back to check that he was OK. There were two other people bending over him and they weren't saying anything.
"We asked if we could help but it was clear that the boy was beyond redemption. Within a few seconds of seeing the boy it was clear that he was dead," Mr McKeever said.
"Up until this stage I thought the army had been using rubber bullets. After seeing the boy it was clear that this was not the case."
PA