BELFAST, Northern Ireland, July 6 (UPI) -- The Police Service of Northern Ireland plans an investigation into the 1972 Bloody Sunday killings, Chief Constable Matt Baggott said Thursday.
Baggott said about 30 police officers will be involved in the investigation, The Guardian reported. Addressing the Northern Ireland Policing Board, he did not say when the inquiry will get under way.
The British Parachute Regiment shot 26 unarmed civilians, killing 13 of them, in a confrontation Jan. 30, 1972, in the Bogside area of Londonderry. A 14th victim died months later.
"It is a matter that I think we should be investigating and will be investigating," Baggott said.
John Kelly, whose brother, Michael, was one of those killed, said he had been expecting the announcement.
"My view on it at the time was these soldiers should have been arrested straight away and prosecuted on what came out of the Saville report," he said, referring to a 2010 report by a British commission that began work 12 years earlier. "But certainly after hearing what we heard today it's a step in the right direction because myself, my family and most of the families want prosecutions."
