Police officer tells Lyra McKee trial of moment masked gunman opened fire
A police officer has described watching a masked gunman open fire during rioting in Londonderry before he saw Lyra McKee stumble and fall to the ground.
The trial of three men accused of murder at Belfast Crown Court has heard further accounts from PSNI officers who were on duty on the night of April 18 2019.
Ms McKee, 29, died after being hit by a bullet as she stood close to police vehicles while observing rioting in the Creggan area of Derry.
The New IRA claimed responsibility for the author’s death.
Peter Cavanagh, 35, of Mary Street, Derry; Jordan Gareth Devine, 23, of Bishop Street, Derry; and Paul McIntyre, 56, of Kells Walk, Derry, are on trial charged with her murder.
The prosecution case is that none of the three accused fired the shot which killed Ms McKee, but were engaged in a joint enterprise to encourage and assist the gunman.
One officer told the court that he had been in an evidence gathering PSNI Land Rover as police came under attack.
He said: “I saw a figure appear wearing dark clothing and a mask covering their face, both hands up at shoulder level and appeared to be holding a handgun.
“I made my crew aware and got the camera turned round, focused on the individual
“That’s when I heard the shots.”
The officer said he believed he heard at least four shots.
He added: “He appeared at one point to be trying to clear a stoppage in the gun. It misfired.”
The officer said he then noticed movement to the left of his vehicle.
He said: “I turned my attention round, there was a group of women who were standing against the Land Rover immediately in front of me to my left.
“I saw one of them, I now know to be Lyra, she sort of stumbled and fell to the floor.
“And then there was just this horrendous screaming and someone shouts ‘she has been shot’.”
Another officer told the court on Thursday how he had attempted to give Ms McKee first aid as she travelled in the back of a police Land Rover towards hospital.
He said: “I heard a loud scream coming from the back of our Land Rover.
“We got out to see what was going on and there was a young girl being lifted by police and other members of the public.
“We gathered her into the back of our Land Rover, closed the doors and then we made off to Altnagelvin accident and emergency.
“It was during that time we were carrying out CPR on the girl. I was examining her for injuries.”
The officer told the court that he used a face mask from an emergency first aid kit.
He said: “She was unresponsive. I was trying to maintain an airway.
“I was giving rescue breaths as we continued doing until we arrived at Altnagelvin accident and emergency.”
Regarding the injury suffered by the journalist, the officer said he was surprised because there was very little blood coming from it.
Ms McKee’s death was confirmed shortly after she arrived at the hospital.
Seven other men are on trial at Belfast Crown Court on a number of charges, including rioting and throwing petrol bombs.
They are: Joseph Patrick Barr, 36, of Sandringham Drive, Derry; Jude Forest Coffey, 26, of Gartan Square, Derry; William Patrick Elliott, 57, of Ballymagowan Gardens, Derry; Joseph Anthony Campbell, 23, of Gosheden Cottages, Derry; Patrick Anthony Gallagher, 32, of John Field Place, Derry; Christopher Joseph Gillen, 43, of Balbane Pass, Derry; and Kieran George McCool, 55, of Ballymagowan Gardens, Derry.
In the afternoon Judge Patricia Smyth watched further unedited footage filmed by an MTV crew who were making a documentary in Derry on the day that Ms McKee was killed.
TV presenter Reggie Yates and the camera crew were making the film about republicans opposed to the Northern Ireland peace process in the period leading up to traditional republican commemorations in the city to mark the 1916 Easter Rising against British rule in Dublin.
The footage watched by the judge on Thursday showed Mr Yates meeting up with two of the defendants, Coffey and Gallagher, who showed him around the parts of Derry.
