The man who stands accused of the Marsascala murder earlier this month told the police how he fired several shots at an oncoming car after having been shot at himself.
Giuseppe Cutajar, 45, of Marsascala, is accused of the murder of Kevin Gatt, 32, and of seriously injuring another man.
The shooting took place in a complex of underground garages on March 15.
Police Inspector James Grech, giving evidence in the compilation of evidence, told a court that when he arrived on the scene he went down a ramp towwards the underground garages and found a Hyundai Accent, an SUV and a BMW.
The dead man was in the driving seat, slumped onto the passenger seat of the Hyundai while another man, who was injured, was crouched on the passenger seat with his back to the windscreen. He said he was injured and could not move.
There were several bullet shells on the floor and two bullet holes on a door of the Hyundai.
He later questioned the accused who explained that the BMW belonged to him. He had driven down to his garage and the Hyundai was driven down after him and came alongside.
The accused told the police that he heard the driver tell the passenger to shoot him.
Mr Cutajar said he immediately ducked, slid across the passenger seat of his car and got out through the passenger door as a shot rang out.
Mr Cutajar ran towards the ramp in an attempt to get out, but the Hyundai was reversed at speed towards him, so he ran towards it, put his hand inside and tried to grab the gun. The Hyundai reversed again, dragging him down and he let go and tried to hide in a garage.
At this time he remembered that he had a gun hidden in a ventilation shaft, so he ran towards the shaft and retrieved it.
The Hyundai was driven at him again and pinned him against the wall. At this stage he fired several shots at it and then ran upstairs to his flat.
Mr Cutajar did not recall how many shots he had fired.
The Inspector said the accused was questioned a second time on the following day. He told the police that he fired the shots at a distance of about five metres but could not remember where he put the gun afterwards.
The police were later tipped off by somebody and found the gun in a rooftop water tank.
The case continues.
Picture: The underground garages where the shooting took place.