Drug suspect injured in police shootout

A MAN was injured by police gunfire during a drug squad stake out on Thursday night at an Industrial area in Nicosia. The police saw a man get into a car at 7.30pm and they tried to get his attention by switching on the police car lights. When the man failed to respond, one police officer then stepped out of the vehicle wearing his police jacket and signalled to the driver to get out.

The man then began to drive towards the policeman. A second policeman then fired two shots at the car’s tyres to stop the vehicle. The first policeman fell to the ground after hearing the shots and he too fired twice at the car, which then came to a halt.

The police then managed to detain the two men in the car, one of whom – the 30-year-old driver – had been wounded in the right shoulder. He was taken to Nicosia General Hospital and kept for treatment. His condition is not critical.

Police searched the car and found various items connecting the suspects to drugs. The Nicosia CID is conducting further investigations.

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