Two witnesses yesterday described a paratrooper firing a rifle repeatedly from his hip as he stood beside an armoured car in the car-park of Rossville Flats on Bloody Sunday.
Mr Charles McMonagle, who was a 20-year-old Knights of Malta volunteer at the march, said he was treating a casualty who had been hit by a rubber bullet in the leg, when a shout went up that the army was coming in. He looked up and saw a number of armoured personnel carriers "screaming down Rossville Street towards the car-park". One stopped in front of him and a paratrooper leapt out. He immediately began firing from the hip towards the flats.
The soldier then turned and looked straight at him. "I immediately put my hands up," said Mr McMonagle, who was wearing his first-aid uniform at the time. "I was terrified and did not know what to do. I was in genuine fear of my life."
Both he and the soldier were wearing gas masks, he said, and he could not tell what the soldier was shouting and screaming at him ". . . I started to frantically point towards my Red Cross badge, I was shouting `Red Cross, Red Cross'," he said. "The paratrooper then moved up . . . pointed his rifle at my chest and continued to shout at me."
Another soldier came up and they "roughed me up", took his kitbag and rifled through it. Then they threw him to the ground and told him not to move. They continued on towards the flats.
Another soldier gave him permission to move, and the witness said he left the area and was called into a house in Chamberlain Street, where he treated Peggy Deery, who had a gunshot wound in her leg.
Mr Danny Deehan, who was aged 16 on the day, described fleeing across the car-park as Saracens were "coming in fast and reckless". He heard live rounds being fired and people were shouting, "someone's been shot". A Saracen had stopped facing the flats and a soldier close to the rear door had his rifle at his hip and "seemed to be firing indiscriminately".
The witness said he sheltered behind a low wall, but after a couple of minutes the shooting seemed to ease off and he poked his head up. There were several Saracens visible. People were starting to get up and throw stones and protest again.
He said he "made a break for it" and went through a gap between the blocks of flats. There was still shooting at this point, but it was more sporadic. He saw two bodies which he later found out were those of Barney McGuigan and Hugh Gilmore.
Mr James McMenamin, who was aged 19, described lying down with a group of people in a corner of the car-park after several Saracens drove into the area and "sharp cracks" of live bullets could be heard.
A soldier jumped out of a Saracen and covered the group with his rifle. A civilian got up and ran towards the gap between the blocks of flats. The witness said he heard shots fired by the soldier close to him and saw the bullets hit a wall behind the running man.
The strike marks were getting lower as they moved along, and "I knew it was inevitable that one of the bullets would hit him, because the track of the bullets and his path would cross." He said as the man reached the gap his head jerked forward and he "flew forwards through the gap".
The witness agreed with a suggestion by Ms Patricia Smith, barrister, that his description of this incident fitted the wounding of her client, Patrick McDaid, as he fled from the car-park.
Mr McMenamin also described bullets hitting the roadway in Rossville Street near him at a later stage, and he said he believed these shots were fired from Derry walls.
The inquiry continues today.
