Man to be arraigned for firing at police

A 21-year old man from Zabbar is expected to be arraigned today to face a string of charges ranging from attempting to kill police officers by firing in their direction to theft and causing wilful damage.

The man, who sources said is already facing several other criminal charges, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon, a few hours after a car chase that ended in a collision.

The man was with another person who is being kept under police observation in hospital after he jumped over a wall and fell a height of two storeys in an attempt to evade capture.

The two were in a Citroen van that had been reported stolen. Its number plates were also reportedly stolen.

They made a bid to escape when they noticed they were being shadowed by the police in Sta Venera. As the police gave chase, they hit a number of cars parked at Qormi and finally came to a stop after a head-on collision with a Fiat Punto near Ghajn Dwieli, in Paola.

In the Fiat were two young women who were returning home from work from the Casinò di Venezia. They suffered slight injuries.

The two men then tried to run off in different directions. The police fired a warning shot and one of the men fired back at them, the police say. The other jumped over the two-storey high wall.

The police found a sawn off repeater shotgun loaded with four cartridges on the scene. The serial number of the shotgun was erased, indicating it had probably been stolen.

Police investigations are being conducted by CID inspector Joseph Mercieca and district Inspector Anthony Cassar.