Officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit testified about their arrival at the scene of a suspected shooting incident at Iklin last year, complete with bodycams, shortly before a man identified himself as the “aggressor”.

That man was 24-year-old Ryan Sultana, a gardener from Iklin, who is currently pleading not guilty to attempting to murder 55-year-old Vincent Xuereb who had allegedly defrauded the accused out of some €7,000.

The victim had allegedly been promising to help Sultana acquire a government apartment but that promise had never materialised.

That September 9 afternoon Sultana happened to catch sight of Xuereb driving by in his Peugeot and had allegedly crashed his Toyota Tercel into the other man’s car, intent on confronting him face-to-face after several phone calls had apparently been ignored.

A verbal argument ensued and the situation escalated.

Officers from an RIU patrol team that reached the site of the incident testified this week.

They were driving through Għargħur when the call from the police control room came through at around 3.45pm, alerting them about a collision and a suspected shootout at Triq il-Wied, Iklin.

Within minutes, the officers got there and saw the two crashed vehicles, a Peugeot and a Toyota, opposite a private residence.

The gate to that residence was open and there were people standing to the side of the road.

A man was lying on the ground, bleeding at the shoulder, obviously in pain and unable to speak, went on the sergeant who was the first to testify.

While calling an ambulance and relaying details of the collided vehicles to the police control room to track their owners, one of three men standing nearby walked up to the policemen and identified himself as “the aggressor”.

He was arrested, given his rights and handcuffed, the court was told.

Meanwhile another stranger, later identified as the suspect’s uncle, walked away and headed into the residence with the open gate.

His somewhat “agitated” behaviour aroused police suspicion that he could have been “hiding something,” continued the witness.

That was when the officers decided to check the residence.

But the accused’s uncle initially refused to let them in, stepping aside only upon their insistence and after another male relative urged him to cooperate. 

Upon entering the premises, the officers spotted a pouch, containing a firearm, lying on a sofa.

Suspecting it to be the weapon allegedly used in the incident, the sergeant directed one of his fellow officers to remain inside the residence on fixed watch. 

That officer also testified about how Sultana, whom he identified in court, had allegedly walked up to them and said, “I am the aggressor.”

“Everything was recorded on my bodycam,” testified the constable, adding that the footage was saved and in police custody. 

The third officer present at the alleged crime scene that afternoon testified that they had switched on their bodycams when heading to Iklin. 

Before entering the private residence, he had warned the occupants that their cameras were switched on and that everything was being recorded. 

Earlier on, the court, presided over by Magistrate Monica Vella, heard how Sultana had claimed to have acted out of fear after spotting some “black object” in the alleged victim’s hand.

However, when grabbing his shotgun and firing three shots, he had aimed high, wanting simply to scare Xuereb away.

Some defective mechanism in the firearm might have caused the shots to go lower than intended, the alleged aggressor had explained to police when releasing his statement in the presence of his lawyer, Arthur Azzopardi.

The case continues in March.

Inspector Wayne Camilleri prosecuted, assisted by AG lawyer George Camilleri. Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi was defence counsel.