Soviets Apologize for Shooting U.S. Airman, Blame Both Sides : Shevardnadze’s Account Differs From Pentagon’s

Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze apologized today for the shooting of a U.S. airman by Soviet soldiers in East Germany but said both sides were at fault.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz, at a White House briefing on three days of negotiations on arms control and other superpower issues, called the shooting “unacceptable behavior.”

The Americans denied any wrongdoing.

Shevardnadze, addressing a news conference at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, said the airman was driving a car with another member of the U.S. military mission “very close to the facility, to the area, which is prohibited to members of foreign military missions.

“They were taking pictures of Soviet military aircraft and also were engaging in radio and electronic gathering near the Soviet military facility,” he said.

‘There Was Warning Fire’

“When Soviet soldiers approached, the members of the mission tried to flee. And therefore there was warning fire, small-arms fire,” the Soviet foreign minister said.

“The actions of both the U.S. and the Soviet soldiers in this case were a violation of the agreement on military liaison missions accredited to the Soviet and American commanders in the occupied zones of Germany,” he said.

“At the same time, we are conveying our apologies for what has happened and we state that the Soviet side will take necessary steps to exclude the possibility of any such incident in the future,” the foreign minister said.

At the Pentagon, spokesman Robert B. Sims gave reporters an account of the incident that differed sharply from that given by Shevardnadze, saying that there were no warning shots and that the American vehicle was fired on from behind without provocation.

The two were driving down a road near the town of Wasleben when they spotted a man in civilian clothes by the side of the road. The leader of the U.S. team, an Air Force captain, had “a gut feeling that the individual was in fact a Soviet soldier or some other government representative, and he decided that they should leave the area,” Sims said.

‘At Least 7 Shots’

As the two Americans were driving away, they encountered “a second individual, about 30 meters away, dressed in a large, black overcoat, again without any insignia or rank,” he continued. “They presumed that this individual was a civilian and continued to leave the area.

“As they moved on, they saw him pick up an AK-74 (automatic rifle) from the ground. At that point, they began to accelerate. Then, less than 100 meters down the road, they heard at least seven shots fired.”

The vehicle was struck repeatedly, shattering the glass windows, and one bullet fragment struck the driver, Sims continued.

The Americans then stopped their car and were immediately surrounded by the two men observed earlier along with three other Soviets.