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Soldier saved life of pizza boy by shielding him from hail of bullets
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
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A soldier saved the life of the 19-year-old pizza delivery boy wounded in the Massereene Barracks shooting by leaping on top of him as Real IRA gunmen opened fire.
Domino’s driver Anthony Watson, who lives close to the barracks in Antrim town, has reportedly told friends an unarmed soldier shielded him from the hail of bullets, which claimed two lives.
Mr Watson said: “The soldiers shouted for us to ’get down’ before I even knew what was happening.
“Then one of the soldiers just threw himself on top of me as the bullets were still firing.”
One of the gunmen then walked over and shot the soldier and fired three bullets into Anthony. Police said he was in a comfortable condition at the Antrim Area Hospital last night.
However, his 32-year-old Polish colleague, who is believed to have sustained gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen, was still in a serious condition at the same hospital.
The two other surviving victims, both soldiers, were said to be stable and comfortable at the Ulster Hospital in Belfast.
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26 Comments
Colin : "Kellyleigh, there are just as many Catholics who support the union as there are Protestants who support the one nation concept."
Sorry, but this is absolute twaddle.
Posted by mickey | 11.03.09, 10:11 GMT
I have read most of the comments in here. Everyone know's that the word protestant means to "protest". Can we do that together? No religion involved? Protest that we don't want to go back to the hell that most of us have lived with? Do we want that for our children? Peace to everyone. R.I.P to all that died in this sad conflict. These soldier's died protecting no particular religion. It was what they signed up for. To protect the innocent and they did. God Bless them and their families. xoxo
Posted by Mike | 11.03.09, 04:57 GMT
So sad that this might take us all back 15 years,. Be strong all of you that hope for peace. Stand up and voice your opinion, don't let the scum take us back.
Posted by Alison | 11.03.09, 02:46 GMT
Coming from a unionist background i can forgive and understand that soldiers and police were killed in the past due to internment, bloody sunday etc. Though still unforgivable there was some rational behind it. These dissident people are just animals and would use any cause as an excuse to kill. They,ll have their moment and then it'll just peeter out like the border campaign of the 50's.
Posted by chris | 11.03.09, 01:44 GMT
We feel sick to our stomachs at these dreadful murders, to the families of Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkos our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with you at this very sad time.
To the family of constable Stephen Carroll are thoughts and prayers are with you all , please except are sincere condolences
God bless you
Liz and Chic
Australia
Posted by liz and chic | 11.03.09, 01:35 GMT
Guess the thugs were trying to score points with someone. All they accomplished was looking like demented murderers. It's their target (army) that came out on top.
Posted by wchris | 10.03.09, 23:17 GMT
Someone must know these thugs. Too many episodes of the Sopranos? Sick of muslim extremists getting all the headlines? Pathetic and senseless.
Condolences to the grieving families.
Posted by Paddy Kearney | 10.03.09, 21:31 GMT
Nat,
I read in one news report that getting pizza's delivered was not uncommon, so my guess is that these thugs had been watching the barracks for some time.
Posted by Musicdee | 10.03.09, 20:33 GMT
these murders were done in a cowardly way.if the SAS were to kill a dissadent coward we wouldnt hear the end of it.bring back the SAS.
Posted by paulglfc | 10.03.09, 19:10 GMT
These murderous cowards must be caught!! A united Ireland will not stand for these actions!
Posted by Fitzy31 | 10.03.09, 18:26 GMT
its got nothing to do with religion- one little bit- the gun men are not religious in anyway- they are scum. anyone who refuses to condemn these killers are also scum and more to the point cowards.
Posted by neill | 10.03.09, 16:31 GMT
Kellyleigh, there are just as many Catholics who support the union as there are Protestants who support the one nation concept. While you may not have intended to make your post come off that way, it unfortunately has.
Back to the incident, its hard to believe than an organism with a vertebrae can behave so spinelessly as the lot that have in the last 72 hours.
Posted by Colin | 10.03.09, 15:36 GMT
Keighleigh, you are absolutely out of order. Maybe you should switch your brain on before you write as what you wrote was bigoted, and sadly I guess, intentionally so. Hear, hear Jay, Sean and Kieran.
Posted by Robin | 10.03.09, 15:21 GMT
Kellyleigh, we are not being small minded in our response to your post. I have taken a straw poll from people of varied backgrounds and they all agree that your comments were bigoted and out of date. It would appear that the thugs behind the recent sick events are not the only ones stuck in the past.
Posted by kieran | 10.03.09, 15:07 GMT
'It wasnt meant in a bigotry way, so sorry that you havea small mind to think like that!! '
Kellyleigh, Not a time for point scoring but I forgive your ignorance
Posted by Sean | 10.03.09, 14:54 GMT
It wasnt meant in a bigotry way, so sorry that you havea small mind to think like that!!
Posted by kellyleigh | 10.03.09, 14:37 GMT
i am particularly pleased that i have not come across the religion of any of the people slaughtered by this filth in the press.is that intentional?hopefully it is,as it doesnt matter a damn about their race,colour or creed.just that they have been murdered in cold blood and that we as a country should not tolerate it.its disgusting.
Posted by richard | 10.03.09, 14:33 GMT
Kellyleigh, how bigoted and contemptuous your statements are. How can you equate these mindless and barbaric murders with "one side of the religion"?? I am a member of that religion, who grew up with soldiers parading my area, and I for one (nor any neighbour or member of my family) gave them "abuse" or "hell".
I am as sickened and disgusted with these murders as any other right-minded individual in this country, and it upsets me greatly to see their families, friends and colleagues suffer.
Your words and blatant sectarian attitude towards "the others" is just as destructive as these killings. If people like you don't move on from the past, what chance do we have of moving forward? Pathetic and insulting.
Posted by Jay | 10.03.09, 14:19 GMT
kellyleigh - this isn't a religious issue. It has moved beyond that a long long time ago. As a catholic I find it disappointing that you (or anyone else) links incidents like this to religion. It was motivated by thuggery, not religion and has no support of right minded catholics.
Posted by kieran | 10.03.09, 13:27 GMT
'They come to this country and one side of the religon in Northern Ireland gives them nothing but abuse and hell,'
Kellyleigh, clearly bigotry is rampant in your part of the country.
The support these murderers have is absolutely minuscule in the Nationalist community, yet you don't think twice about slandering us all.
We all feel the pain today for the two soldiers and also the PSNI man. RIP.
Posted by Sean | 10.03.09, 13:06 GMT
26 Comments