A Malian man was in a critical but stable condition after being hit twice when officers fired six shots in his direction as he threateningly approached them wielding a big knife, Police Commissioner John Rizzo said.

Souleimane Samake, 25, was hit in the thigh and the lower abdomen in the incident that occurred outside the caves at Għar Ħasan, in the limits of Birżebbuġa at about 7.15 a.m. yesterday.

Mr Rizzo said that a mobile squad unit was checking the caves after the police received a report three days earlier that a man was living there. It was not the first time that the police carried out spot checks in the area but never found anyone there. The part in question bars access to the public by means of a gate.

The three officers in the squad car noticed a person in a low-lying chamber. They called out to the man to see what he was doing there.

Mr Samake emerged from the cave and was accompanying the officers to the squad car. Mr Rizzo said he was informed that Mr Samake spoke in English but uttered a number of words that did not make sense. Among phrases the police heard him say was “God tell me” and “My God”.

Mr Rizzo said that, at one point, Mr Samake produced a large knife, having a nine-inch blade, from a pocket and started waving it at the police officer closest to him. The officer used pepper spray to ward Mr Samake off but “this didn’t seem to have any effect”.

The man continued to move towards the officers still wielding his knife. The policemen began retreating with Mr Samake closing in on them in an area that was very close to the cliffs, Mr Rizzo pointed out.

One of the police officers had no option but to use his weapon and fire two warning shots, Mr Rizzo said.

Mr Samake still did not stop and the officer fired another two shots and, then, a further two shots.

Mr Samake, who was hit twice, returned to the cave and one of the officers called for back-up and an ambulance while the other two called Mr Samake to get out of the cave, Mr Rizzo said.

Mr Samake then walked out of the cave unarmed and was given first aid by the police until the ambulance arrived.

Mr Samake was operated upon and his medical condition was “critical but stable”, Mr Rizzo said during the crime conference in the evening.

He said that one of the police officers used his mobile phone to video what was going on as he called for help.

The footage was being examined by a court-appointed expert.

Mr Rizzo insisted it was still premature to draw any conclusions, noting that Magistrate Anthony Vella had opened an inquiry.

When asked about the distance between the officer and Mr Samake when the first shots were fired, Mr Rizzo said that court-appointed experts were measuring the distance between the spent bullets and bloodstains.

Asked whether a taser gun was available in the police car, Mr Rizzo said it was not.

When it was pointed out that it was a case of three officers confronting one man, Mr Rizzo said that “there could be one against 100 but if that one brandishes a weapon and tries to attack one of those... I’m saying what we were told had happened”.

Mr Samake moved into the Ħal Far tent village sometime in 2010 and was last seen there last August.

Sources said that Mr Samake arrived in Malta in 2008 and had received treatment at Mount Carmel Hospital. Mr Rizzo would not confirm or deny this, pointing out, as he did on several occasions, that an inquiry was in progress.

Asked whether the police officers would be suspended or whether there would be an internal inquiry, Mr Rizzo said there was a magisterial inquiry. “We will see what will result from the inquiry.”

Mr Rizzo was flanked by Assistant Commissioners Pierre Calleja and Neville Aquilina, Superintendents Silvio Valletta and Raymond Vella Gregory and Police whInspector Priscilla Caruana.