Exclusive/There was a third bullet fired in the tunnel which shut down the engine

Published: November 26, 2014 at 1:22pm

MEN224

Following earlier reports today that two rounds were missing from Mallia’s driver’s Glock and that this tallies with the fact that eyewitnesses heard two shots in Triq Wied Il-Kappara, I can now confirm that there was a third shot in the tunnel.

This backs up initial reports of three bullet entry-holes in the car, and ensuing confusion as to whether it was two shots or three.

I have it from a highly reliable source that the last shot (the third entry hole) was fired in the tunnel during the chase, and that it hit something which disabled the Vauxhall Insigna’s electrics, shutting down its engine.

That figures, because the question nobody has thought to ask so far is: why did Morrison Smith stop his car in the tunnel? He didn’t. The engine shut down.

Another bit of information I have is that there never was a beer bottle. Morrison Smith did not emerge from the car holding one because there wasn’t one. The detail was made up on the basis that there was another bottle – empty, and not a beer bottle – on the floor of his car.

This detail may be significant because at some point in Times of Malta’s footage from that night in the tunnel, Mallia’s driver is clearly seen carrying a bottle and removing it to the side of the road. Several readers of this site had commented on it, but I didn’t bother because I thought that maybe somebody had given him something to drink.

So what about the ‘two missing rounds from the gun’ reports of earlier today? This is the explanation I have been given:

Two shells might have been missing from the magazine but there could have been another one in the chamber. Were all the spent shells collected? Especially the one from the tunnel?

Some more information: Morrison Smith has lived in Malta for many years and speaks perfect Maltese. He definitely knew what a GM plate is and that Manuel Mallia is Police Minister. Now what follows is not fact but my deduction from these facts: when he asked for him at the police lock-up while he was under arrest, it wouldn’t have been as his defence counsel, as was suggested, but to challenge the reasons for his unwarranted arrest, given that he knew him as his lawyer, whether he knew that car to be his or not.




54 Comments Comment

  1. Conservative says:

    So therefore, every single detail from the DOI press release on the night was a lie, a fabrication, untrue. And not a single resignation – not even of the Ministry’s press officer. Malta, there is no hope for you, now or ever.

  2. the box says:

    Just one thought – Mallia’s driver was arrested this morning – was it the first time that he got arrested? If no why?

  3. eve says:

    I thought he was actually stopped by the RIU.

    [Daphne – Turns out he wasn’t. But when you think about it, that was always a non-starter. It takes around three or four minutes to get from Sliema Road to the tunnel at that time of night. So unless the Police Rapid Intervention Unit was sitting in the tunnel waiting all night just in case of a random shooting..]

  4. Bug Off Joey says:

    The minister’s driver clearly endangered public safety with his shooting.

    In a civilized country, the minister would have resigned forthwith without waiting for his boss to sack him.

  5. Kevin says:

    From my limited knowledge, a shot must be fired from in front of the car for the engine to cease. If this is truly the case then either Sheehan overtook Morrison Smith and fired or someone else entered the tunnel driving wrong way and fired the shot.

    And, I find it extremely strange that there were already policemen in the tunnel to block Morrison Smith. It doesn’t take more than five minutes to drive from the street in Gzira to the tunnels.

    Was this a planned ambush?

    • Rosie says:

      Very limited knowledge – in a car like the Insigna you don’t have to hit the engine with bullet, but just a wire from the ECU will do the job just fine and the whole car dies. Cease and seize are not the same by the way.

    • C Falzon says:

      If I recall correctly one of the bullet holes was in the rear bumper. The fuel pump is usually located in that area and either it or the wires supplying it with electricity could have been hit, not necessarily directly by the bullet but possibly flying debris. If that is what happened then the car could run for a couple of hundred metres or more before stopping.

      And also, as Rosie rightly mentions, even hitting another part of the wiring could cause an electrical failure which could even stop the engine. In such case the car would probably stop almost immediately.

      As for the two missing bullets versus the three fired I think when the assesment of bullets missing from the gun was made, the one in the chamber would have been taken into consideration, or at the very least the possibility of it. It is strange that there seems to be an official conclusion stating as fact that only two bullets were missing without mentioning the possibility of the third one in the chamber.

      A pertinent question that has not been asked is whether the gun was actually collected for evidence immediately after the incident before leaving the tunnel or days later.

      The third shot also raises the possibility that another person and another gun were involved. Ballistics evidence may or may not reveal whether the same gun was used for all three shots but that will depend on whether all three bullets are found and whether evidence has been tampered with. We will probably here that one or more of the bullets were not found, something which can happen if the bullet went right through and out of the car. It can also happen if evidence is removed or tampered with though.

      • D Sullivan says:

        Could there have been a second weapon?

      • Francis Saliba M.D. says:

        There are so many co-incidences beneficial to Sheehan that it would take a very naive and a very credulous idiot not to conclude that the illegal tampering with the crime scene before the arrival of the magistrate was not done with a purpose and that it was not intentional. It is no wonder that no one will admit to have sanctioned it.

  6. A.Attard says:

    Was the mirror really damaged by Smith or did someone smash it afterwards in the tunnel?

  7. Niki B says:

    There’s a lot more information that we don’t know. The question is will it come out at some point? It seems every effort is being made to contain this case but two weak spots remain – Sheehan and Morrison Smith.

    Sheehan can bring Mallia down with what he says or does from now on, and both of them know it.

    That is why it is no surprise that he will be defended by a lawyer from Mallia’s office (probably pro bono). Mallia has to keep him sweet, if Sheehan feels he has been dumped he will lash out and he can cause a lot of damage.

    Morrison Smith has, rather inexplicably, not yet spoken to the press. He might be biding his time and waiting for the right moment. I would bet that he won’t be arraigned any time soon.

    But he is a key witness in the trial of Paul Sheehan, and will have to speak under oath in court anyway.

    • C Falzon says:

      I don’t think he’ll be arraigned at all. If he is it will be a rerun of the ‘Birdlife-illegally-possesed-protected-birds’ farce that has just played out in court.

      The shooter, on the other hand, will probably be released on ‘technicalities’ or insufficient evidence. It is not hard to imaging the police making some procedural mistakes in his arraignment. I am guessing that forgetting to arrest him and then remembering to almost a week later could be one such ‘mistake’.

  8. watchful eye says:

    This is what I wrote last week:

    And by the way, for Pete’s sake, show us that beer bottle. And no not a similar bottle, but that particular bottle. We know the tricks by now.

  9. Daniel says:

    Ouch. If the fact that only two rounds were missing from the magazine has been proved true I don’t know what’s the most worrying part:

    a) that the driver was running about with a weapon that had a chambered round;

    b) that the driver shot at the Vauxhall Insignia during the chase.

  10. Brian Sinclair says:

    and the plot thickens

    • observer says:

      So does the rot!

    • Tabatha White says:

      Since there is no damage on Morrison’s car that points back to it as the cause of the broken mirror, what were the two men originally discussing?

      I think there is a lot we are not being told.

      • Benny Hill says:

        How exactly does a Vauxhall Insignia hit a Mercedes-Benz E-Class in such a way as to completely (I believe, from the photo we were shown) break-off the latter’s side mirror? The Insignia and E-Class are, more or less, of the same height, so the only way the Insignia could damage the E-Class’ mirror is by hitting it with its own side mirror.

        The Insignia must have been going pretty damn fast to completely break-off a mirror by hitting it. I’ve hit one or two mirrors, and I never did more than knock them backwards and give them a small scratch.

        Is the Insignia’s mirror itself damaged?

      • Stephen Forster says:

        You got that right, definitely more to this than meets the eye on both parties.

  11. Brian Sinclair says:

    These guys are just not fit for purpose. It is as easy as that. We do not need further evidence. We have seen it before and people do not change their ways. I wish I could say ‘enjoy the ride’, but you might get shot at.

  12. Gahan says:

    So it follows that Sheehan chased Morrison Smith, overtook Morrison Smith’s car inside the tunnel and shot at Morrison Smith’s car from the front.

    • observer says:

      I wouldn’t think so. In the above photo the GM car is stationed behind and not in front of Morrison Smith’s car.

      Unless, that is, Sheehan reversed his car, once the Insigna had broken down, and parked it right behind the other one.

      On the other hand, of course, we have been told that Sheehan had actually overtaken the other car in a bid to stop the Scot from fleeing further.

    • Mila says:

      But did we not see reports that it was Morrison Smith who was driving dangerously?

      • Tabatha White says:

        And whilst we were told that it was the plates that were taken off and put into the boot, we have no way of knowing whether anything was taken out of the boot and put, say, into the white car or any other for safe keeping. In any case, Sheehan had ample time to sort things out after the incident.

        Since Government cannot be trusted to release reliable information;
        Since the story has changed a number of times;
        Since the Prime Minister has amnesia on the time he was informed;
        Etc. ad infinitum…

        Any speculation from this point on is fair game: it’s better intentioned from this direction, than from the direction of Government to the public.

        Without an outcry of prodding they may have not even thought to arraign Sheehan at all.

  13. Auditor says:

    The explanation is a valid one and is the first thing which came to mind when I saw your previous post – very often, a semi automatic pistol is loaded by chambering a round and then ejecting the magazine in order to replace said round following which the mag is seated in the grip.

    This provides an extra round as well as providing a guarantee that there is in fact a round in the chamber (there are other ways of doing this, but this is the most foolproof and probably the safest method).

    The number of rounds fired may be ascertained (apart from counting the number of holes in Mr. Morrison Smith’s car) by following the audit trail – one presumes that the police keep track of the number of rounds issued to each officer, who is responsible for each and every one of them.

    • Daniel says:

      “very often, a semi automatic pistol is loaded by chambering a round and then…”

      No. An automatic pistol is loaded simply by putting in a “loaded magazine” inside its magazine well. At that point you call that weapon “Loaded”.

      The next step is racking the slide back and releasing it to strip a round from the magazine and place it snuggly in the chamber. The weapon at his point is known as “Ready” or “made ready” (no need to explain ready to do what) or “Hot”. On a Glock you have no de-cocker so weapon stays ready.

      If you then replace magazine (now minus one round) with a full magazine (17 rounds) you get the 17+1 round scenario, but this is not the norm, or essential for normal operation of a firearm.

      “This provides an extra round as well as providing a guarantee that there is in fact a round in the chamber (there are other ways of doing this, but this is the most foolproof and probably the safest method).”

      Yes you do get an extra round but in the case of a Glock at the cost of carrying a Striker Fired pistol with a chambered round. You usually most of the time ascertaining that a weapon has an EMPTY chamber not a Chambered Round, as the norm that follows common sense is that you do not go about with a “hot” or “ready” weapon.

      So you usually check for the former not the latter. To make sure you have the latter (weapon ready/hot), you either partially rack the slide until you see brass from the ejection port or rack the slide fully back (potentially ejecting a chambered round) and feeding with certainty the next one.

      So keeping a firearm with a chambered round is by far the unsafest method of guaranteeing there is a chambered round.

      • Cb says:

        Daniel, I don’t want to get into an “anorak” argument on Daphne’s blog, but your assertions, while valid, are not necessarily the rule and procedures differ substantially from one organisation to another.

        While the Maltese armed forces teach that there is a difference between “loaded” and “ready”, other forces overseas, as well as international target shooting organisations consider “loaded” to be a round in the chamber (this is how I was trained abroad, although when I did the local course, we followed AFM practise).

        The Malta police do not necessarily follow AFM procedure, so for all we know, a “loaded” gun means one in the spout. Also, many police forces overseas carry striker fired pistols such as the Glock in “condition 1” – that is, with a round in the chamber (while admittedly some don’t and follow the “Israeli” or “C3” carry as per your description).

        Essentially, this means that, depending on local police procedure, it is entirely possible that Sheehan had 17 rounds in the mag and one in the chamber. Thus, it is possible that three rounds were in fact fired (from his handgun).

      • Daniel says:

        Cb I completely overlooked that possibility i.e. of not all organisations sticking to the same definition of loaded and or hot.

  14. Nenu Cassar says:

    Checks should be made to establish the calibre of all three bullets and if they were fired from the same weapon.

  15. Manhattan says:

    A round in the chamber is the only logical explanation for the discrepancy in the number of missing rounds in the magazine versus the number of bullet holes.

    Carrying a weapon with a chambered round is highly irregular and downright dangerous given that such a practice eliminates a layer of safety inbuilt in automatic pistols.

    SOP for most armed forces is to disengage the safety and THEN chamber the first round prior to firing.

  16. Mila says:

    Not that there is any malice or anything and surely no one in his right mind would imagine that there is an orchestration of facts to cover up any wrong doing, but isn’t it amazing that every little detail where there was a little insignificant mistake, every single time the change is in favour of the minister’s driver?

  17. Rorschach says:

    But as you can see in the video in this report, they drive the Insignia into position before loading it onto the truck. How did they get the car started so quickly if was damaged by the third shot? Just asking.

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141120/local/update-8-shooting-incident-ministerial-driver-suspended-from-all-duties.544812

  18. Robert Pace Bonello says:

    I am sure the police keep record of the number of rounds issued. All they all accounted for?

    • Mila says:

      You do realize that we always come back to the same problem here don’t we? Look at the shooter in the photos, is he being processed? Does he have free access to an accessory used to commit the alleged crime?

      Do these issues fill you with confidence that investigators are sticking to procedures? Now who do we ask to audit rounds issued?

  19. Mila says:

    Dr. Andrew Borg Cardona ends his excellent piece about this saga with a most appropriate observation.

    ”There’s plenty more, but I don’t have time for more right now and anyway the story keeps on imitating a gift that keeps on giving.”

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141124/blogs/bullet-points.545569

  20. Banana Republic .... again says:

    So this guy was driving and shooting like in the Dukes of Hazard, or was it his brother literally, as Americans say, riding shotgun!

    Irrespectively, the extent of danger on innocent people driving-by (not that the victim himself isn’t innocent), is simply unbelievable.

  21. Another John says:

    Could we thus say that the arrival of the RIU on site might have contributed to saving Morrison’s life?

  22. R Camilleri says:

    I hope that the phone logs of the driver, Silvio Scerri, Ramona Attard and Manuel Mallia’s are presented in court. This will let us know who phoned who and at what time.

  23. Aston says:

    Three shots fired and only two seem to be accounted for – what if there was another gun?

  24. Francis Said says:

    This is just another cover up of biblical proportions. Reminiscent of the 70s and 80s.

  25. H.P. Baxxter says:

    See? I think we armchair sleuths deserve some credit.

  26. bob-a-job says:

    There’s a lot that doesn’t make sense in this case.

    I’d let the report come out then we can cut it to shreds.

    Incidentally I’m not quite buying it that a bullet to the back of the car killed the engine. At most hitting the tail light panel would have resulted in a blown fuse not a ceased engine.

  27. Natalie Mallett says:

    Could the third shot have been fired from another gun?

  28. Gaetano Pace says:

    It all simmers down to the fact that criminals know pretty well that the best guarantor of their freedom is the Prime Minister.

    The Ministers know one better. They can drag the Prime Minister into any mischief and get away with it Scot free. For like a guardian angel holding the torch up high Joseph leads them out of all temptations by pardoning their sins.

  29. U Le! says:

    Pardon my expression but the jaqq just gets jaqqier.

  30. ken il malti says:

    So just like the JFK assassination there was more than one shooter.

  31. ChrisM says:

    We may never know all the facts.

    Procedure was not followed.

    Evidence was tampered with on the scene including removal of Smith’s car before an inquiry was done. Mallia’s car was washed that evening or next morning. I’m 100% positive that not all evidence such as gunshot residue and empty cartridges was collected from the scene or if it was collected, then it was not registered as evidence.

    Sheehan was not held under arrest and had plenty of time (almost a week) to tamper with evidence.

    God only knows how much Mallia, Sheehan, Silvio Scerri and the police conspired with each other to try and cover up as much as they can get away with.

    Mallia’s position is not tenable because he has been exposed as a liar. He says he hardly knows Sheehan yet he trusts him with his children, and their women are close friends.

  32. Makjavel says:

    Mallia will pull down Joseph.

    The earthquake is coming.

Leave a Comment