The Provisional IRA shot dead a policeman outside the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. Detective Constable Ronald McAdam was not on duty when he was murdered, having taken his girlfriend to the hospital for a medical appointment. After dropping her off he told her he was going to place a bet on the Derby and would be back to collect her in about an hour. He returned as planned and the pair walked out to his unmarked car. As DC McAdam was getting into the car he was approached from behind and shot in the back three times. He died on the operating table inside the hospital, the second RUC casualty to die in the Royal Victoria that day.
The hospital was located on the Falls Road, a republican stronghold, but it was not clear how the IRA knew the detective would be there. A local man was later convicted of DC McAdam's murder, and that of another policeman shot dead in the same area five months later.
DC McAdam was 31 and came from the Cregagh estate in east Belfast.
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| DC McAdam |
