The police are following various leads in their investigation on the murder of 51-year-old lawyer Carmel Chircop in Birkirkara on Thursday.

The motive of the murder is still unclear as the police check on the lawyer’s professional work and personal life, including financial transactions. At this stage, the police are not excluding anything. In a statement this evening, the police said the autopsy results showed that he was shot four times and died as a result of his wounds.

Police officers were at the lawyer’s office in Valletta on Thursday evening to look into Dr Chircop’s work and are checking the lawyer’s phone records in an attempt to find a lead.

Dr Chircop was gunned down by an unknown assailant as he went to his garage in John Borg Street on Thursday at 7.30am.

The police believe that his assailant left the site on a light-coloured small car, which was seen on CCTV cameras in the minutes following the murder. The police also mounted a search at the Malta International Airport in case the killer wanted to leave the island soon after committing the crime.

 

The Duke of Connaught Band Club, of which Dr Chircop was president, issued a statement to express their solidarity with the lawyer's family.

The club expressed its appreciation at the work carried out by Dr Chircop in the last 10 years, and said that all activities planned for the club's 150th anniversary have been cancelled as a sign of respect.