The Police Ombudsman's investigation established that, at about 10.25am on 30 August 2001, a police patrol car driving on the Mullenan Road outside Derry/Londonderry came across two cars parked side by side at Windmill View, just 500 yards from the border.
The cars' boots were open, and two men were seen to be passing boxes to each other. Officers believed they had stumbled across terrorist activity.
The officers stated that the men, upon seeing the police, got into one of the cars. The car's engine was revved as the four member police patrol got out of their vehicle and formed a line across the road. The officers drew their police issue revolvers as they approached the car, which then accelerated aggressively towards them. The police shouted warnings for the driver to stop but when he failed to respond two officers fired a warning shot each into the air. The suspect vehicle subsequently did stop, before reversing into a ditch.
The police officers approached the car and one of the suspects was challenged and brought from the vehicle at gunpoint, shouting: "I am not a terrorist." The second man made off on foot but was pursued and captured 40 yards from the scene of the incident.
A search of the suspects' vehicles revealed a large quantity of cigarettes, CDs and video games.
Outcome of investigation:
The two police revolvers discharged in the incident were submitted to the Forensic Science Laboratory for examination, and were found to be in correct working order, and showed signs of having been recently discharged. The two suspect vehicles were examined by a Scenes of Crime Officer but no strike marks or bullet damage was found.
During interview, the police officers stated that they believed they had come across terrorist activity, and believed their lives to be at risk. Senior police officers confirmed that the officers had been briefed about the threat posed by terrorist activity in the area at the time. An improvised suspect device had been found in the area three days previously. The officers' firearms training records were also examined and all were found to be properly qualified to carry their weapons.
Having considered all the evidence in relation to the case the Police Ombudsman, Mrs Nuala O'Loan, concluded: "The suspects could have been in no doubt that they were being instructed to stop by armed police officers.
"As a last resort, two of the officers each fired a single aimed warning shot into the air above the suspect vehicle.
"The location of the incident is isolated. The discharge of the weapons did not place any person in apparent danger, the outcome being that both suspects were detained and neither suffered any physical injury.
"Taking all factors into account, the use of such lethal force was both legal and proportionate. No criminal or misconduct issues were identified, and there has been no public complaint made against any of these officers."