Police officer shot, slightly injured by suspect

 A police officer was shot in the leg last night in an altercation with a man, believed to be under the influence of drugs, who was also injured.

At 10:30pm, police were called to a resident in Triq il-Hagar in Mosta, were a man was behaving aggressively and refusing to leave the premises.

The police had to break in to the house as the front door was locked from the inside and proceeded to talk to the 45-year-old man, who is from Valletta, while he was locked inside a room. RIU and the CID were also on site. Investigations revelead the man was armed.

The man threatened to start a fire and said he had opened a gas line. When it was evident this would not work, police broke into the locked room.

The suspect fired one shot in the officers’ direction. Officers used a taser to subdue the man but he fired another shot when an officer approached to disarm him. The suspect was injured, as was the officer in question.

The suspect suffered severe injuries while the officer suffered only slight injuries.

Investigations are ongoing.