The dynamics of the murder of judge Astrit Kalaja and the injury of Rakip Kurtaj and Ervis Kurtaj by Elvis Shkambi (the perpetrator of the crime) are revealed.
Tirana Local Police Directorate
The investigative actions regarding the event that occurred on 06.10.2025, where at around 15:35, Judge Astrit Kalaja was shot dead by citizen Elvis Shkambi, within the premises of the Court of Appeal, Tirana, are concluded, and the full mechanism of the murder is revealed.
Along with the perpetrator, who was immediately arrested after the incident, citizens Gjon Shkambi and Banush Koxhaj were also arrested.
On 06.10.2025, at around 15:38, a notification was received in the operational room of the Tirana Local Police Directorate that in the internal premises of the Tirana Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction, Judge AK was shot with a firearm, who was conducting a court session with the subject matter "Opposition of enforcement actions", with the plaintiff being citizen R. K, accompanied by his son EK, as well as the defendant being the bailiff TM, Shkodër Bailiff Office, and third parties citizen G. Sh, accompanied by his nephew E. Sh.
Immediately after receiving the notification, numerous police services arrived at the scene, taking measures to escort the perpetrator as well as all suspected citizens or those who had knowledge of the incident.
At the same time, the investigative group composed of Judicial Police officers and criminal experts, under the direction of the Prosecutor's Office, continued with investigative actions such as examining the scene of the incident, administering and preliminary examining the footage, taking statements from witnesses, making it possible to fully clarify and document the dynamics of this event, as follows:
At 13:42, citizens E. Sh. and G. Sh. entered the premises of the Court's public waiting room and passed through the scanner (detector) device, one after the other. The presence of metals was signaled on the detector screen by turning on red lights, but citizen BK, on duty as a security officer at the Tirana Court of Appeal, remained seated in a chair and did not perform any action to physically check these citizens or register them in the protocol book, where all persons entering and leaving the Court premises must be recorded.
Both these citizens, E. Sh. and G. Sh., remained in the court lobby until around 15:29, and then entered the courtroom (room no. 3). At 15:35, the parties stood up and, immediately after Judge AK announced the verdict, citizen E. Sh., who was in the courtroom, took out a pistol from his belt and shot several times at Judge AK, who, as a result of the injuries he received and after first aid, died during transport to the hospital.
At the same time, after this action, citizen E. Sh. points his pistol and shoots once at citizens RK and EK, wounding both of them, who are currently in hospital out of danger.
Also, the investigations have revealed that citizen G. Sh. did not take any action to stop his nephew's criminal actions, which creates reasonable suspicion that he was aware of the plan to execute the judge in the case, in the role of instigator and/or assistant.
After the incident, citizen E. Sh. left the courtroom and handed over the weapon to citizen BP, a court clerk assigned to supervise and oversee the proceedings in another courtroom. The perpetrator E. Sh., after leaving the courtroom, was immediately neutralized and handcuffed by police officers.
At the end of all procedural actions, the arrest was made in flagrante delicto for the following criminal offenses:
• E. Sh., 30 years old, as a suspect for the criminal offenses of “Murder of public officials” committed in collaboration, “Murder in other qualifying circumstances against two or more persons” attempted and committed in collaboration, and “Illegal possession and production of weapons, explosive weapons and ammunition”;
• G. Sh., 56 years old, as a suspect for the criminal offenses of “Murder of public officials” committed in collaboration and “Murder in other qualifying circumstances against two or more persons” attempted and committed in collaboration;
• BK, 63 years old, as a suspect for the criminal offense of “Abuse of office”;
A firearm, a pistol with three cartridges, used by the perpetrator, as well as other material evidence found during the examination of the crime scene, which serves to document this event, were seized as material evidence.
The materials were referred to the Prosecutor's Office for further action.
