Ghar Hasan cave dweller last seen in Hal Far last August

Sulumein Samake, a 26-year-old from Mali, has been identified as the man who was shot at by police this morning near Ghar Hasan.
He arrived in the Hal Far detention centre in February 2010, but was last seen in Hal Far in August 2011.

During a press conference held this evening at Police HQ, Police Commissioner John Rizzo gave more details about the accident as it happened.

Three policemen had been investigating reports that there were people living in caves near Ghar Hasan at around 07.15h. They realised that someone was inside one of the caves and asked him to come out and identify himself.

The man in the cave resisted for a while, but then came out and started shouting what Commissioner Rizzo described as ‘nonsense words’.

“He started shouting things like ‘God tell me’. They were in English but they seemed quite out of context.”

The man then pulled out a sharp weapon, approximately nine inches long, and started advancing towards one of the policemen, waving the blade. The policeman sprayed him with pepper spray but this had no effect on him, and he kept approaching. Two shots were fired as a warning. The man kept advancing. Two more shots were fired, which possibly hit him, but the man kept on advancing towards the policeman, all the time brandishing the blade.

It was only with the third round of gunshots that the man retracted. He first stumbled and fell, but then went back into his cave, visibly injured. Commissioner Rizzo said the man was hit in his thigh and navel; the bullet which hit his navel exited from his back.

In the meantime, the policemen called for help and medical assistance. They asked the man to to exit the cave to be given first aid, and he eventually conceded, coming back out without the blade. After a while, the man was taken to Mater Dei hospital, where it was established that his condition was critical.

Commissioner Rizzo said that it was too early to draw conclusions about a number of things, including how long Mr Samake had been living in the cave, whether he had any psychiatric conditions or even how long there had been reports of people living in caves in Ghar Hasan.

He asked for cooperation and patience during the magisterial inquiry, which is currently underway.

Source: Di-Ve