The below are excerpts from two different letters that were written about the subject of shots being fired at passengers aboard the Titanic as she went down.
From Third Class passenger Eugene Daly to his sister in Ireland. Appeared in the London Daily Telegraph May 4,1912. He later reached Collapsible Lifeboat A as it floated off the Titanic as she went down.
At the first cabin [deck] when a boat was being lowered an officer pointed a revolver and said if any man tried to get in,he would shoot him on the spot. I saw the officer shoot two men dead because they tried to get in the boat. Afterwards there was another shot, and I saw the officer himself lying on the deck. They told me that he shot himself, but I did not se him. I was up to my knees in water at the time. Every one was rushing around, and there were no more boats. I then dived overboard.From First Class passenger George Rheims to his wife in France. Dated April 19,1912. The day after the Carpathia reached New York. He also jumped from the ship and found his way to Collapsible A.
While the last boat was leaving, I saw an officer with a revolver fire a shot and kill a man who was trying to climb into it. As there remained nothing more for him to do,the officer told us, "Gentlemen,each man for himself,Good-bye." He gave a military salute and then fired a bullet into his head. That’s what I call a man!
There were only four officers that were in the area at the right time to be involved in the shooting. They are Purser McElroy,Chief Officer Wilde,Sixth Officer Moody,First Officer Murdoch.
Both men made it to Collapsible Lifeboat A (capacity 49 persons) as it floated off the Titanic as she went down. Survivors in the water climbed aboard the partially submerged boat, and some died during the night. In the morning one woman and twelve men were transferred to lifeboat 14. Three dead bodies were left in the collapsible as she was cast adrift. It was found along with the bodies, by the Oceanic a month later, some 200 miles from the scene of the disaster.