{"id":59111,"date":"2026-07-24T19:38:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T18:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/?p=59111"},"modified":"2026-07-24T19:38:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T18:38:32","slug":"st-julians-shooting-officer-fighting-for-life-after-being-shot-during-armed-standoff-in-st-julians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/24\/st-julians-shooting-officer-fighting-for-life-after-being-shot-during-armed-standoff-in-st-julians\/","title":{"rendered":"St Julian&#8217;s shooting: Officer fighting for life after being shot during armed standoff in St Julian&#8217;s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 40-year-old police officer is fighting for his life after he was shot in the face and neck during a major armed police operation in St Julian&#8217;s on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Police Commissioner Angelo Gaf\u00e0 said the critically injured officer, a member of the Special Intervention Unit (SIU), came under fire while officers attempted to enter a property where an armed suspect had barricaded himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The incident began after police received reports of a fire at a property in the Ta&#8217; Giorni area, along with information that people might be trapped inside. Members of the Civil Protection Department (CPD) were dispatched to the scene, but preliminary investigations established that the blaze had been started deliberately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Police identified one of the suspects in Birkirkara Road, St Julian&#8217;s, where he was arrested without incident. The man, who is from San \u0120wann, was taken into custody as investigations continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officers later established that the arrested man&#8217;s brother remained inside the property. Despite repeated calls to surrender, the suspect refused to leave the building. Police negotiators used a megaphone in an effort to persuade him to come out, but he allegedly challenged officers to enter the property instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The situation escalated when the suspect opened fire on police. One officer sustained minor injuries after being struck by gunfire, while an officer from the Rapid Intervention Unit (RIU) returned fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team was deployed to the scene as negotiators continued efforts to resolve the standoff peacefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As SIU and RIU officers, wearing protective equipment, attempted to enter the building to rescue colleagues and bring the situation under control, the suspect again opened fire. During the exchange, the SIU officer was struck in the face and neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gaf\u00e0 said the officer remains in critical condition and is in danger of dying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following further negotiations, the suspect eventually surrendered and was arrested. Police recovered two licensed hunting shotguns from inside the property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the Police Commissioner, the motive behind the incident appears to be a long-running family dispute over ownership of the property. He said that, in recent years, the second man arrested had filed reports alleging that construction works were being carried out on the site without his consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Magisterial inquiries and police investigations into the shooting are ongoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Source: theJournal.mt<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Photo: theJournal.mt<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div><p id=\"pvc_stats_59111\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"59111\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p><div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 40-year-old police officer is fighting for his life after he was shot in the face and neck during a major armed police operation in St Julian&#8217;s on Friday. Police Commissioner Angelo Gaf\u00e0 said the critically injured officer, a member of the Special Intervention Unit (SIU), came under fire while officers attempted to enter a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_59111\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"59111\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 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Lynch","author_link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/author\/bernardlynch\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"A 40-year-old police officer is fighting for his life after he was shot in the face and neck during a major armed police operation in St Julian&#8217;s on Friday. Police Commissioner Angelo Gaf\u00e0 said the critically injured officer, a member of the Special Intervention Unit (SIU), came under fire while officers attempted to enter a&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59113,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59111\/revisions\/59113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}