TWO RUC members who were at the scene when a Catholic man was shot dead by police 50 years ago have since died.
It is also understood that another officer who was in the vicinity when Samuel McLarnon (27) was killed in north Belfast was not fit to be interviewed by officials from the Police Ombudsman’s Office.
The father-of-three was shot as he pulled the blinds of his home at Herbert Street in Ardoyne during the August 1969 pogroms.
Another man, Michael Lynch, was shot by nearby by police.
Three days of unrest from August 14-16 saw the deaths of eight people across the north while hundreds of Catholics were forced to flee their homes in Belfast.
In north and west Belfast, four Catholics were shot dead by the RUC, while a teenage republican was killed by loyalists.
Two Protestant men were also killed.
Although Mr McLarnon was shot on the night of August 14, he was not declared dead until after midnight and so his family mark his anniversary on August 15.
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A series of events have been held across Belfast in recent days to remember those who died over the three days.
It is understood that on the night Mr McLarnon was killed seven RUC officers were using machine guns in the area.
Three of those officers were in Herbert Street.
Two fired shots in Herbert Street while a third fired off it.
Mr McLarnon’s son Sam said his family was recently told by ombudsman officials that two of the officers have since died while a third cannot be interviewed.
The 52-year-old said he was “gutted” when he heard the news.
“It sort of took the wind out of our sails,” he said.
“We had been working on this for so long and to have the rug pulled from under you was devastating.
“I was at the meeting when that was revealed and I felt terrible telling my mother and two sisters.”
Mr McLarnon said the family will continue to campaign for the truth.
“It’s very important because as the years go by we are thinking it’s going to slip away and fade into the past,” he said.
“The RUC has never acknowledged anything was done wrong that night but the family will continue on and never let it fade.”
He said his mother Ann, who is aged 71, still wants justice.
“It’s just she thought one day there would be a day in court, that one day there would have been a proper inquest."
Mr McLarnon said an original inquest returned an open verdict and authorities have never acknowledged what happened to his father.
“My father was an innocent man.
"If you say, ‘My father was murdered by the RUC’, people say ‘What did he do?’
“He didn’t do anything. He was in his own home with his wife and children and he went to pull down the blinds and they saw the shadow and shot him and some people just won’t comprehend that.”
He added that the events of that night still dominate family life.
“When you are talking about him in any capacity it goes back to that night,” he said.
“When you are hearing stories about him, it’s just there hanging over it, it was never resolved, no resolution, and no-one ever taken to account for it and it looks like no-one ever will.”
The Public Prosecution Service last night said a file has been received from the Police Ombudsman in relation to Mr McLarnon's death and is under consideration.
