Gunfire erupts outside former Georgian president’s residence in central Tbilisi PHOTO

A shooting incident occurred in the early hours of May 3 morning outside the residence of former Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili in central Tbilisi, prompting renewed concerns over public safety in the capital.

Zourabichvili detailed the alarming event in a statement posted on her official Facebook page, Caliber.Az reports citing Georgian media.

"At 4:20 in the morning in the area of Gudiashvili Garden and right in front of my house, a commotion arose: a group of about 40 people shouted, fought, and finally weapons were used (8 bullets, one in my yard)," Zourabichvili wrote.

"This is no longer a matter of my safety, it's a matter of safety in the city. This is the city centre, where cafes and bars work late, where young people walk at night, where there is a large number of foreigners, where tourists arriving by night planes check into hotels."

Her remarks underline growing public concern about law enforcement's response to violence in high-profile and densely populated areas of Tbilisi.

Despite the use of firearms and the proximity of the incident to a former president’s residence, Zourabichvili claims that police did not arrive on the scene until around 9:00 a.m.—several hours after the incident occurred.

By Vafa Guliyeva