A journalist has told the Bloody Sunday Inquiry that a loyalist gunman was shooting in Derry close to the mayhem of the shootings.
Mr Nigel Wade, then a Daily Telegraphreporter, claimed he came under fire from the lone assailant and found other people taking cover inside a Catholic church about 400 yards from the scene where 13 men were shot dead on January 30th, 1972.
Mr Wade said he and two other journalists were leaving Derry's Bogside district, where the British army shootings happened, when they encountered the gunman outside the Long Tower Church.
"Upon rounding the corner a man appeared in full view about 10 yards away, holding a rifle that looked like my father's old .22 and fired at us," he stated.
His impression was that the gunman had come from the Fountain, a loyalist enclave close to the church, and was presumably a Protestant.
"When we entered the church we found a congregation in there. There were more than 20 people inside taking cover from the gunman," he said.
"I was told by some of the people inside the church that anyone who attempted to climb to the top of the steps was shot at by this gunman."
Mr Wade was giving evidence in the Guildhall, Derry, on day 109 of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry public hearings.
PA