This Monday morning, Erogen Vaso Brajović, former Vllaznia footballer and former president of the Tërbuni sports club, comes down from his home in the heart of Shkodra and sits down to drink coffee at the "Indromeno" bar next to the City Hall.
Together with him, at the same table sits Armando Pali, former IMT employee, and Liridon Kraja Lushi.
Erogen Vaso Brajović knew Pal after both were members of the Municipal Council in Shkodra from 2011-2015.
Meanwhile, Lushi was a son-in-law in the Brajović family. While they were talking, a person traveling on a motorcycle left the vehicle running, approached their table and opened fire.
The killer was wearing a diving suit and as soon as the people sitting at the tables saw him, they tried to leave, entering the interior of the bar. But he followed them and continued shooting inside the bar.
As a result, Armand Palin was killed on the spot, while Brajovic, Liridon Lushi and Meri Kaceri, a 25-year-old waitress, were injured. She was inside the counter when she was hit by a hail of bullets. A little later, Liridon Lushi also died in the hospital, deepening the balance of the tragedy, which occurred when Shkodra had a detailed plan of measures for the first day of school.
ATTEMPT
to escape
The executioner does not return to get the motorbike he used to go to the bar. He came out of the back of the bar and at gunpoint took the car from a citizen. While trying to escape the police, near Sarreq, he crashed into 5 cars. Left stranded, he got out of the car and near the train tracks he tried to leave on foot through the bed of the Kir River. But because he was killed on foot by the collision, he was unable to leave. “Surrender! Put down the gun,” the police told him, who were in the meantime following him. “I surrender, my leg hurts a lot,” the author says. He was handcuffed by the police and identified as Rakip Gila, who had left the prison cells in March of this year.
Target of the assassination
Armando Pali, divorced, father of a girl, was known as a quiet person. Until 3 months ago, he worked as an inspector at IMT. Previously, he was a member of the Municipal Council. No criminal record. The police believe that the target of the assassination was Erogen Vaso Brajović. He is the brother of Denis Vaso Brajović, arrested as part of the "Metamorphosis" file. Denis Brajović is suspected of being part of the Bajri criminal group and as the executor of Gjin Ndoji Borić in Vau e Dejës. ""Erogen Vaso threatened me and I had problems with him. He made me feel strong and used words against me. I only had personal problems with Erogen Vaso and I only wanted to shoot him. So I had personal problems with him," Gila declared during questioning.
The police suspect that Armand Pali and Liridon Kraja were killed by mistake and that the waitress was also shot by mistake. Erogen Brajović has not yet given his testimony, as he is in the hospital due to his injuries, but the alibi of the suspected perpetrator that he shot him because he was threatening him does not hold up according to investigators. Gila is a person who is used by criminal groups in the area and recently acted on behalf of Lulzim Kulla. Therefore, the trail of a murder for revenge motives is being investigated, despite the fact that innocent lives were lost.
Released on parole
In December 2023, Rakip Gila's brother, Ergysi, appeared at the Shkodra police station and reported that "his wife left the apartment in the morning and did not return."
The police contacted his wife, who said she had left the apartment of her own accord after her partner threatened her and he had a gun. The police searched Ergys Gila's house, but found nothing illegal. The police contacted the wife again, who told police that the items were on the second floor, in the apartment of her brother-in-law, Rakip Gila.
During the search of Rakip Gila's house, located in the Partizani neighborhood, "Lëvizja e Postribës" street, specifically in the bedroom, a quantity of hashish was discovered.
Also seized were 7 bulletproof vests, two blue, two black, one beige, one white, one camouflaged like the brown and beige army; black head masks with open eyes like the fabricated ones, as well as a silicone mask in the shape of a face with a length of up to half of the chest, and two wigs, a shotgun and ammunition.
"On Rakip Gila's cell phone, in the Instagram section, it is found that there are frequent conversations and calls with the username eg8888, starting from 22:06 to 23:02. Of particular importance for inspection is the photos section, where in the photo an item similar to a firearm, a pistol with the inscription CZ (Cervena Zastava 99), is visible, while in two other photos the box for holding this weapon in an open and closed state is visible," the file states.
Gila himself refused to give explanations and at the end of the trial, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Due to the shortened trial, the sentence was reduced to 3 years and 4 months in prison. The court then ordered Rakip Gila to be placed on probation for 5 years, on condition that during this time he does not commit another criminal offense. During the probation period, the defendant was ordered to maintain contact with the Probation Service in Shkodra.
