TIRANA, Sep. 7 – A group of Albanians attacked a police station in a southern town after their relative was shot dead in a clash with policemen trying to arrest him earlier in the day, police reported.
Police shot Sabri Shurdhi, sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for kidnapping a person, and he died while being transported to the hospital, according to a statement.
Police report Shurdhi had fired his gun at authorities when he was surrounded by special police forces in the southern commune of Lazarat, 230 kilometers (143 miles) south of Tirana and close to the Greek border, and had injured a policeman, who reported in stable condition.
Following Shurdhi’s death a few dozen people, who police identified as headed by Shurdhi’s relatives, went to the nearby town of Gjirokastra to protest, throwing stones at the police station and also burning a police minivan.
The head of the local authorities in the commune managed to convince his citizens to end the protest.
Shurdhi was also linked to other crimes, including firing shots at an Italian helicopter as it was flying overhead in 2004 on a routine mission to check for drugs in the area, police said.
