'Talk' about shooting back, Saville Inquiry told

A witness told the Saville Inquiry that he heard "talk" about shooting back at the (British) army moments after the first shooting…

A witness told the Saville Inquiry that he heard "talk" about shooting back at the (British) army moments after the first shooting of Bloody Sunday.

Mr Colm O'Domhnaill said others in the company urged against thesuggestion soon after Damien Donaghy, 15, was shot in the leg onJanuary 30th, 1972.

His statement to the inquiry said: "As I was near the injured boy Iremember hearing talk of someone getting a rifle to fire back. Ithought to myself, No, don't do it'.

"There were people saying, For God's sake, no, don't get a gunout!' My feeling was, Don't even mention guns'."

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Giving evidence on day 88 of the public hearings, he said: "It struck me as an extremely insane thing to think about because we were in the plain view of troops."

Under examination from Counsel to the Inquiry Mr Christopher Clarke QC,he said nothing came of the discussion.

Earlier he said he heard the now Ulster Unionist Deputy Leader JohnTaylor on the radio telling people to stay away from the march in thecity which turned into Bloody Sunday, words he viewed as a "veiledthreat".

The inquiry also heard from a teenager, Michael Bridge, who attendedthe march with one of the victims, Hugh Gilmour, but left him a fewminutes before he was shot to get a coat.

Later that day he came across his friend's body on the forecourt ofthe Rossville Flats.He watched his own cousin, also Michael Bridge, shot in the car parkof the flats, his arms in the air and still.

"The soldier was holding his rifle at shoulder level. He waspointing the rifle at Michael Bridge. I stopped to watch for a coupleof seconds and saw the soldier shoot Michael Bridge."

PA