I heard the bells ring and went to the gate. I stayed there a little and saw Mr. Lovell coming back with his buckets. I asked him where was the fire. He said it was not fire.
There were a number of boys on the other side of the way who were throwing snowballs at the soldiers. The soldiers were enraged and swearing at the boys. The boys called them, "Lobsters, bloody backs," and hollered, "Who buys lobsters!" There were also a number of people who stood where I did and were picking up pieces of sea coal and snowballs, and throwing them at the soldiers.
I went to cross over to where the soldiers were and as soon as I got sight of them, I heard somebody say, "Here is old Murray with the riot act" — and they began to throw snowballs. The first word I heard was a soldier say to a man by me, "Damn you, stand back."
Question (from lawyer): How near was he to him?
Answer (from Andrew): He was so near that the soldier might have stabbed him with his bayonet if he had stepped one step forward. While I stopped to look at him, a person came to get through ..... He turned about and said, "You damned lobster, bloody back, are you going to stab me?" The soldier said, "By God, will I!" One of the persons who was talking with the officer turned about quick to the people and said, "Damn him, he is going to fire!" Upon that, they cried out, "Fire and be damned, who cares! Damn you, you dare not fire," and began to throw snowballs and other things, which then flew pretty thick.
Question: Did they hit any of the soldiers?
Answer: Yes, I saw two or three of them hit. One struck a soldier on the hat. And the people who were right before them had sticks, and as the soldiers were pushing their guns back and forth. The people struck the soldiers’ guns, and one hit a soldier on the fingers. The people were screaming, "Damn them, they dare not fire!" "We are not afraid of them!" One of these people, a stout man with a long wooden stick, threw himself in and made a blow at the officer. The stout man then turned round and struck the soldier's gun at the Captain's right hand. He immediately went at the solder with his club and knocked his gun away, striking him over the head. The blow came either on the soldier's cheek or hat. This stout man held the bayonet with his left hand and twitched it and cried, "Kill the dogs! Knock them over!" I turned to look towards the officer, and I heard the word, "Fire!" I thought I heard the firing of a gun and, upon hearing that, I saw the same soldier swing his gun and immediately he fired it.
Question: Did any of the soldiers step or move out of the line in which they stood to push the people?
Answer: No, and if they had they might have killed me and many others with their bayonets.
Question: Did you, as you passed through the people towards Royal Exchange Lane and the crowd, see a number of people take up any and everything they could find in the street to throw at the soldiers?
Answer: Yes, I saw ten or fifteen around me do it.
Question: Did you yourself.…
Answer: Yes, I did.
Question: After the gun fired, where did you go?
Answer: I run as fast as I could into the first door I saw open … I was very much frightened.