13 injured as gunman opens fire on PN club

Thirteen people were injured, one of them seriously, after a man wielding a shotgun opened fire on the Nationalist Party club in Mqabba last night.

Pellets penetrated the door just after 10 p.m., injuring people inside the club. The barman's sister, 33, was seriously injured after being struck by pellets in the head and chest, according to witnesses. She was taken to hospital though her condition is not life threatening.

The incident could have had far worse consequences had police not been on the scene. Though they were unarmed, they wrestled the man to the ground before taking him into custody.

Others struck by pellets, including a foreigner, were taken to hospital though their injuries were relatively minor.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Labour leader Joseph Muscat and Nationalist Party general secretary Paul Borg Olivier as well as several MPs and local councillors were on the scene shortly after the incident took place.

According to witnesses, the gunman, Carmel Saliba, who is around 30 and lives in Kirkop, had been in the club earlier in the evening. Around 25 people were also present for a staff party. He had a heated argument with another individual and left.

It is not clear what caused the argument, though sources said that the gunman had had previous "political rows" with Nationalist supporters in the village.

Club members became concerned after he made threats and called police immediately.

Two officers were on the scene within minutes.

They shut the interior door of the main room but then Mr Saliba returned with a shotgun firing indiscriminately, shattering the peace in Mqabba's main square and causing mayhem.

Dr Borg Olivier told The Sunday Times: "We don't know the exact motive behind the attack. The police intervened in the nick of time and for this we thank them. They are now investigating. We express our solidarity with the injured parties."

Dr Muscat said in a statement that he had called Dr Gonzi to express his solidarity.

Alternattiva Demokratika chairman Arnold Cassola said in a statement: "Whatever the reasons behind this senseless shooting, our country can no longer tolerate such barbarous situations, whereby an individual decides to take the law into his own hands and shoot blindly into a crowd of people."