POLICE have announced that gun used in Wednesday night’s killing of an Ayia Napa cabaret owner is believed to have come from the north.
Pieris Christofi, 50, was killed when a masked gunman fired eight shots at him outside his cabaret Moulin Rouge on Nissi Avenue in the popular holiday resort of Ayia Napa.
Police officials have said that ballistics believe that the gun is highly likely to have come from the north judging from the bullet shells at the crime scene.
“This type of pistol used,” said one police source, “is actually used by Turkish Cypriot police.”
According to police, Christofi was approached outside his club at around 8pm by a man who hailed him from a short distance away.
Several gunshots were then heard and Christofi was seen falling to the ground.
The suspect fled on foot towards the Ayia Napa harbour. Police said he was around 1.7 metres tall and was wearing black clothes and a black hood.
An ambulance rushed Christofi to Paralimni hospital, where he died 30 minutes later.
The victim’s tearful business partner who was in a nearby shop at the time, Andreas Charalambous, yesterday told reporters that Christofi cried out “Andreas, help me” after the shots were fired.
Christofi’s body was yesterday examined by State Pathologist Nicos Charalambous who located three bullet wound entries on the victim.
According to the pathology report, two bullets had entered his back puncturing his stomach while the other bullet passed through his spine before exiting his throat.
The victim’s death was not instant with the pathologist saying he died from internal bleeding due to excessive injuries to some vital organs.
The gunman then turned his pistol on a British tourist close by who, according to police, ran off when he saw the shooter. According to police, the gunman then fired a warning shot into the air before shooting at the tourist.
The panic-stricken Briton dropped to the floor, in his attempt to avoid being shot, injuring his arm in the process.
Injuries to his face had initially made investigators believe that he was shot in the head but Charalambous later stated that his facial injuries were due to his fall to the ground.
At the crime scene, police also found eight bullet shells indicating that eight shots were fired at the victim.
Christofi leaves behind a Ukrainian wife and two children, aged five and eight.
In tragic irony, the victim had recently been informed by the Genetics and Neurology Institute that his father, who had been missing since 1974, was recently identified by bone remains unearthed in excavations in the north.
Commenting on the shooting, Ayia Napa mayor Andreas Andreou said he was “saddened by the incident”, adding that everybody has been touched by his death.
Andreou also said that the shooting will not have a negative impact on the tourism trade of the town.
Also commenting on the shooting was Justice Minister Sophocles Sophocleous who told reporters that the public should not be scared by the killing of Christofi and of two more men in Limassol last week.
“Obviously we are worried by the recent shootings but it is vital that a message of insecurity is not given to the public”, said the Minister.
It was not the first time that Christofi’s life had been targeted.
Bombs had twice before been detonated at his club Moulin Rouge and once at his home.
Christofi was a partner in the cabaret but was sole owner of the snack bar next door and both establishments were closed for the winter season.
