A robber looked a policeman coldly in the eye before firing at him at point blank range during a foiled bank hold-up 18 years ago, a court heard.
“His eyes were very cold – he shot at me and we retaliated, we fired back,” former police officer Edward Falzon testified yesterday.
It “happened in seconds”, he told the jury in the trial of George Xuereb, who is pleading not guilty to attempting to steal Lm100,000 (€233,000) from the St Andrew’s Mid-Med branch and trying to kill two police officers on March 27, 1996.
That morning, Mr Falzon and his colleague Emmanuel Cilia, members of the mobile squad, had stopped at a petrol station in St Andrew’s because their vehicle had a deflated tyre, Mr Falzon testified.
Mr Cilia got out of their car and started walking towards the bank but quickly turned back and told Mr Falzon: “There is a problem.”
The two informed police headquarters that there was a hold-up under way and Mr Falzon moved to the corner of a low wall next to the bank. He saw an empty, white, parked van.
“All of a sudden three armed, hooded people ran out – one stopped to look at me and fired a shot,” Mr Falzon said, saying he was only a few metres away.
“I saw fire coming out of the gun – thank God it was a revolver and not a shotgun.”
He shouted “Police – freeze!” but the robbers carried on running. The police fired back and heard a loud cry of pain – they knew someone had been hit.
The injured man was “well built” and had to be helped into the van, which then drove off at high speed.
“We ran out of ammunition – at that time we were given six bullets each,” the former policeman said.
The two officers ran back into their car to give chase and the van hit a rental car. However, they lost track of it and returned to the crime scene.
In testimony on Monday, one of the men convicted of the attempted hold-up, Joseph Polidano, claimed the robbers had only fired a warning shot into the air and the police started shooting at them.
But Mr Falzon yesterday insisted the robbers fired first. “Jesus loved me doubly that day – firstly that one of them got confused and dropped his shotgun…he was close to me.
“Secondly, they shot at me but my time had not yet come,” Mr Falzon told Mr Justice Michael Mallia
“I didn’t fire a warning shot. I wasn’t aiming at the upper part of the body – my mother taught me to respect everyone. Your duty is to safeguard even someone who is making a mistake.”
Mr Cilia also testified, saying he saw a parked van in front of the bank. “I saw an employee on the first floor making a sign of a gun with his hands. I peeped into the window and saw a hooded man.”
Thank God it was a revolver and not a shotgun
Lawyer Kevin Valletta, representing the Attorney General’s office, read out the statement of Maurice Laferla, a police constable on duty in the bank during the hold-up.
Mr Laferla, who has since passed away, had testified that he closed the door after a child when he felt “great pressure”. Two men wearing balaclavas and blue boiler suits with the initials GM pushed the door open.
Armed with a shotgun and revolver, they started shouting “hold-up, hold-up – don’t move”. A third man entered seconds later with a sawn-off shotgun.
One man stood guard over Mr Laferla as he lay on the ground, pointing a shotgun at him. The robber asked for his gun but he lied, saying he did not have one.
“I heard screams and I heard him tell the others that the police were surrounding the place. He hit me on the head,” Mr Laferla said.
A number of bank employees and customers who were inside the branch also testified yesterday afternoon.
Two men, Carmelo Spiteri and Mr Polidano, were previously jailed for 10 years each for their involvement in the raid.
Lawyer Lara Lanfranco also appeared for the Attorney General’s Office.
Lawyer Raphael Fenech Adami appeared for Mr Xuereb.