A man died during a police shoot-out late on Friday evening. It resulted that the victim, Bastjan Borg from Qormi, residing in Msida caused havoc in Triq il-Kbira, Qormi, damaged private property and failed to obey police orders. The police fired warning shots in the air but the man resisted and allegedly also attempted to hit the police with a pointed instrument. Consequently, other shots were fired and the man was hit.
The Police Commissioner addressed a press briefing on Saturday afternoon and described it as a sensitive case but confirmed that the Police will do its utmost to reveal the whole truth.
The Police Commissioner said that some time before 22:00CET the first report was filed at the Qormi Police Station indicating that a man had damaged a car. Some time after another report was filed saying that Bastjan Borg had entered a bar in the same street and started threatening the persons present while also drinking their own drinks from their tables.
The Police Commissioner explained that a third report was filed by three women who reported that the same man had damaged another car. It was at this point that the sergeant and two constables that were on duty in the area arrived at the indicated spot where they found Bastjan Borg with a pointed object in hand. Two of the police officers were armed.
The Commissioner continued to say that when Bastjan Borg saw the police car, he ran to Triq Correa and the Sergeant and one of the other officers came out of the car. Still with the weapon in hand, Bastjan Borg started to threaten them. The Police told him several times to put the weapon down but the man did not obey the orders. The sergeant fired in air as a warning. The sergeant had to move back due to the man’s threatening and it was at this point that he slipped and fell down on his back and consequently hit his head on the ground.
Upon seeing this, Bastjan Borg rushed towards him and the sergeant shot in the man’s direction. Subsequently, he was rounded up by the police but Bastjan Borg did not surrender to the police. In order to calm him down, the police lowered the gun back into the pocket but the victim tried to assault them. The man once again rushed towards the Police officers with the weapon in hand and the Police officers shot another four times. The man died on the spot.
The autopsy carried on the body on Saturday morning revealed that the man was hit by three shots in his chest, one in his shoulder and one in his head.
The Police Commissioner confirmed that the victim was under cure at Mount Carmel Hospital and that around 15 years ago he had stabbed another police officer with a knife. The Commissioner also confirmed that the sergeant involved is 44 years old and that the Police held the man for further investigation. One of them was also treated for the severe shock.
