Apologies if this is a known issue - I have had a good root through the bug report sections of this forum and couldnt see any posts from the last 6 months or so about it. That, and I have only been playing for around a week, so I am sorry if this is a repost.
So, I was responding to a terror mission on the Bunker map. A sweep of the outside of the bunker shows it to be clear, so my troops pair off and proceed to gain access to the structure. My 3 snipers drop thier lon range rifles and switch to the SMG they carry for just this occurance. The bunker clearance goes to plan downstairs, and we move to the upper level. Then, all of a sudden, a shot rings out from a sniper rifle, and one of my troopers drops dead. "Odd..." thinks I, wondering if an alien had found one of my abandoned rifles. Next turn, another 2 of my troopers are killed by what appears to be sniper fire in the same way. Then the culprit walks into view - a "civilian" who apparently had picked up one of the rifles and was now treating my troops like an enemy. Gunning him down seemed like a harsh thing to do, but I did it anyway.
So, yea, thats the odd issue: is dropping weapons a bad idea if there are civilians around, as will they pick them up and use them against me? I suspect that the cause of the issue is civvies bieng assigned to a third team and usually being unarmed. Any info?