Police Killed Murder Suspect When He Pointed Replica Gun At Them After Hours Of Negotiations
Police officers killed suspected murderer Edward William Johnston in St Julian’s this morning after he aimed a replica gun at them following hours of negotiations.
Police Commissioner Angelo Gafà delivered a press conference today, flanked by deputy commissioner Kenneth Haber and assistant commissioner Keith Arnaud, to give a breakdown of the events leading up to the deaths of Johnston and his victim Nicolette Ghirxi.
At around 11:50pm, police were informed that a man (Johnston) had entered a hotel in St Julian’s with a firearm and threatened staff. They found Johnston on the rocks behind the hotel, but he jumped into the sea as soon as he spotted the officers and pointed the gun at his head.
RIU officers tried to convince him to drop the weapon and an official police negotiator, as well as a medical team, was called on-site to help out. During the negotiations, Johnston confessed that he had just killed a woman in Birkirkara.
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A separate police unit was dispatched to an apartment in Triq Maestro Giuseppe Busuttil, where they found the body of Ghirxi, who had been stabbed to death. The potential murder weapon was found nearby.
Meanwhile, in St Julian’s, negotiations with Johnston continued for around three hours, with the suspected murderer persistently refusing to drop the weapon. At one point Johnston got out of the sea but kept pointing the gun at his head. At around 3am, he pointed it at the police officers who had surrounded him.
The officers ordered him to drop the gun but instead he approached one of them while pointing his gun at him, leaving the police no other option but to shoot him down. He was immediately given medical treatment and sent to Mater Dei, but he was certified dead.
Further investigations proved the gun was a replica, but Gafà said the officers could not tell that was the case while on site.
Gafà said that Ghirxi had reported Johnston to the police for alleged harassment last April after he sent her some emails and messages following a break-up. Police asked Ghirxi to sit for a risk assessment exercise with Appoġġ risk assessors but she insisted that she wasn’t at risk and that her report was based on insults and harassment. No risk assessment took place.
Ghirxi also told police that Johnston was likely overseas, and police established that he was in Ireland. However, last Thursday, Ghirxi informed the police that Johnston could have returned to Malta as his name was appearing on a certain online app.
On 28th July, Ghirxi filed another police report related to the publication of certain photos and posts online and told them she suspected Johnston was behind it.
She again refused a risk assessment and further assistance by the police’s Victim Support Unit.
Magistrate Philip Galea Farrugia is leading an inquiry and an internal police review by the police’s Firearms Review Panel has commenced, a process that automatically kicks in whenever officers use their firearms. Gafà confirmed that police body cams were active during the shooting.
“These aren’t easy circumstances, particularly for the relatives but also for the police officers involved,” Gafà said. “I thank all the officers who were involved in this traumatic case and who are still investigating it and we will provide them with professional services to help heal their trauma.”
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