A soldier on watch at the Prime Minister’s summer residence in Girgenti heard three shots being fired in the dead of night on Tuesday.

Lawrence Gonzi and Mrs Gonzi were inside the building when the shots were heard.

Located in the limits of Rabat, Girgenti Palace is nestled on a hill and surrounded by hills for miles.

It is still unclear whether the shots were fired at the residence and police sources said the type of weapon used could not be established.

In a short statement, the Office of the Prime Minister said the shots were fired in the vicinity of the palace at about 1.45 a.m.

The police sources said the shots were likely to have been fired from outside the perimeter wall (the palace is surrounded by substantial grounds) but a thorough search for spent cartridges or bullets yielded no results.

Senior police officers and court-appointed experts were on site yesterday morning conducting investigations.

The sources said one of the possibilities being looked into was that the shots were fired by rabbit poachers.

However, the question still remains as to who would have been hunting for rabbits at that time of the morning during a storm.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit is holding an inquiry.