A 49-year-old man has been remanded in custody for four days following a dramatic early-morning shooting incident in the Paphos village of Mesogi. The suspect, who is alleged to have fired a hunting rifle outside his sister’s residence, faces a litany of serious charges, including illegal possession of a firearm and causing terror. The event, which resulted in property damage but no physical injuries, marks one of two separate gun-related incidents to unsettle the island within a 24-hour period, prompting heightened scrutiny from law enforcement authorities.
According to police testimony presented in court, the roots of the confrontation lie in an ongoing familial property dispute. Tensions reached a boiling point on Friday evening at a local nightclub, where an altercation ensued after the sister’s husband instructed the suspect not to join their table. This public rebuff appears to have catalyzed a rapid and alarming escalation. Upon leaving the establishment, the suspect sent a deeply ominous text message to his sister, which read: "Sister, I died today, I don’t exist, don’t look for me again I am dead."
The situation culminated in the residential quiet of Mesogi in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday. Police, responding to reports of gunshots arriving at approximately 5:30 a.m., discovered the suspect shouting outside the property. Subsequent forensic examination of the scene yielded three spent cartridges, while damage to rooftop antennas attested to the trajectory of the gunfire. The weapon believed to have been used, a hunting rifle, was found deliberately placed on a nearby wall. Testimony further indicated the suspect made a subsequent phone call, instructing his sister to "Tell him to go downstairs," a directive perceived by investigators as an attempt to lure his brother-in-law outside.
Officer Christoforos Christoforou of the Paphos CID provided the court with this chronology, leading to the suspect’s remand on Sunday. The legal repercussions are severe; the individual now confronts charges of discharging a firearm in a populated area, the unlawful possession and transportation of both a weapon and explosives, employing a firearm to incite fear, and the malicious destruction of property. The court’s decision to sanction a four-day detention period will facilitate a comprehensive police investigation into the full circumstances surrounding the event.
This incident has garnered significant attention not only for its violent nature but also for its context. It occurred merely hours before a separate shooting targeted an office building in Strovolos, Nicosia, underscoring a troubling pattern of gun violence encroaching upon both residential and commercial spheres. While the motives in the two cases are unrelated, the temporal proximity has intensified public and official concern. The Paphos case, rooted in a personal familial conflict that spiraled into public endangerment, highlights the potentially catastrophic consequences when legal disputes are pursued through illicit means. As the remand period proceeds, investigators continue to piece together the final sequence of events, while the broader community reflects on the mechanisms for resolving conflict in a society increasingly alarmed by the sound of gunfire.