Three young men were able to escape to the West at Ruppiner Straße on the evening of August 17, 1961. Using a truck, they rammed through the recently erected wall. The border guards quickly opened fire, but the fleeing men were not injured. This was the fourth time since August 13 that shots were fired at fugitives in Berlin. The men were unharmed, but a number of bullets fired from machine pistols flew onto the West Berlin side – one went into a resident’s bedroom.