British soldier opens fire
By Laura Friel
A joint British army/RUC patrol opened fire in the
Falls Park area of West Belfast on Tuesday 10 March.
Shots were heard by local residents shortly after 9pm.
The area was later cordoned off by the RUC.
The incident took place at the junction of Norfolk Road
and Norfolk Gardens. A RUC statement claiming that
shots had been fired at the patrol before a soldier
returned fire was later retracted. The RUC admitted no
shots had been fired at the patrol. In a second
statement the RUC said a British soldier had fired his
weapon after mistakenly believing he had spotted a
gunman in the shadows. Local residents reported
increased British army activity in the area over a
number of days prior to the shooting.
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)