Anġlu Mangion, 58, was hit three times and died.

The killer who shot two men in an Attard garage on Friday night did so deliberately, the police believe, but they still have no idea what motivated the attack, The Sunday Times of Malta can report.

Meanwhile, the man who survived the shooting, garage owner Raymond Grima, was last night described as being in critical condition.

The other man, Anġlu Mangion, died at the scene. “It is really hard to say what has happened here. These are two people with clean records, seemingly unrelated.

“We just don’t know yet,” a police source involved in the investigation said last night.

READ: Police hold Attard murder suspect

They added, however, that it was clear that the killer had shot at the two men on purpose and neither had been hit by accident.

Social media was rife with posts yesterday speculating that one of the two men may have been shot by accident or could have been caught in the crossfire.

“The garage where this happened was so small it is clear that the person who shot them knew what he was doing. The shots came from very close range,” the source said.

The shots came from very close range

It was still quite possible, however, that it was a case of “wrong place at the wrong time” for at least one of the two men.

“The killer could have wanted to shoot just one of the two and been forced to shoot the other to leave no witnesses.

“Or perhaps he wanted to throw us off. It is hard to tell at this point,” the source said.

The Attard garage where Raymond Grima was critically wounded on Friday.

The police were until yesterday evening holding a man suspected of being behind the fatal shooting of 58-year-old Mr Mangion and seriously injuring Mr Caruana in a garage-cum-upholstery-workshop on Mdina Road.

He was one of four Qormi men arrested in the hours after the shooting, who were all released on police bail last night until gunshot residue results are received.

Police sources yesterday said investigators had managed to pinpoint a lead suspect after an anonymous tipster called with information on the killing.

“We got a description from a caller with information, and this matched the physical description given to us by the injured party on his way to hospital.”

The shooting took place at around 6.20pm on Friday evening just as Mr Mangion, from Qormi, entered the garage where Mr Grima runs his upholstery business with his son.

The sign on the shop says ‘Raymond Upholstery, Sofas and Car Coverings’.

Seconds later a man wearing a helmet entered the shop and opened fire on the two men.

Anġlu Mangion

Mr Mangion was shot three times, while Mr Grima was hit four times. The latter was taken to hospital and rushed into the operating theatre. His condition was at first described as stable, but last night it was reported to be critical.

The sources said the shooter made his getaway on a motorbike, which he had driven to arrive on the scene.

The busy street was closed off to traffic, while the police mounted a nationwide search for the killer, who was seen speeding away from the scene in the direction of Rabat.

On Friday night, the police were seen inspecting residences and businesses in the area in the hope of retrieving CCTV footage.

Police said the main suspect had to be taken to hospital yesterday suffering from drug dependency symptoms.