Five people reported having been hit by gunshot pellets fired by hunters this year, according to the police.

This marked a sharp increase compared to six reports of the same nature filed in the previous five years.

A spokesman said the police were investigating all cases that could result in charges ranging from breaches of hunting regulations, on the basis of the place and time of the incident, to causing injuries.

The issue emerged when Times of Malta reported that two women claimed to have been shot “deliberately” by a hunter on October 26 while walking along the Ta’ Ċenċ cliffs in Gozo. The injuries were minor but the women were shocked by the experience.

Joanna White, a UK national who has been living in Gozo for six years, was walking along the cliffs with a friend. She recalled: “We suddenly heard a really loud shot and we both jumped. There was a hunter standing there with his rifle pointing at the sky,” adding that the hunter was standing about 12 feet away. The women turned to walk away when they heard another shot. White was hit on the right calf while her friend was hit in the arm. The wounds were small but they were bleeding.

Meanwhile, the hunter headed towards his truck and left.

Reacting to White’s story, the following day a German national came forward and described being showered with shotgun pellets fired by hunters as she went to visit the Ħaġar Qim megalithic temple complex.

The woman, who has lived in Malta for the last three years, said she narrowly avoided being hit as she got out of her car in the parking area near the visitors’ centre. The parking site is about 150 metres away from the Ħaġar Qim temple site and about 600 metres away from the Mnajdra temple. 

“This was really scary… I just could hear the bullets [pellets] close to me… There were hunters all around the building. And one of them was shooting in my direction. Luckily, nothing happened. He didn’t hit me,” she said, adding that she was unable to see the hunter.

Malta is in the middle of the autumn hunting season that runs from September 1 to January 31.