Two suspects arrested (one shot in the leg) while one escaped
MIRI: A shootout between a police squad and a gang of three robbers at a housing estate here yesterday left a policeman and a robbery suspect wounded.
The cop suffered a shot in the hand while the suspect was hit in the leg.
In the 1pm incident at Jalan Pahlawan 3, Taman Jelita, about 15km outside the city, three gun-toting masked men in a BMW car crashed into a gate of a house with the intention of robbing the occupants.
In the house was a family of three – the house owner, his 35-year-old wife, and their four-year-old son – and their housemaid.
They had just arrived after picking up the little boy from kindergarten when the forced entry happened.
“Seconds after we parked our car and the gate closed, there was a loud crash at the gate,” said the wife.
The armed men took the woman to the second floor to force her to locate the family’s valuables while the son was duct-taped on the mouth and locked inside a bathroom with the maid.
The intruders held the family and maid for nearly 30 minutes before a mobile police team arrived at 1.30pm.
It did not take long for Miri police chief ACP Lim Meng Seah and a team of CID personnel to surround the area.
When the policemen tried to investigate, one of the robbers started shooting at the policemen.
The owner of the house attempted to stop the robber from firing at the
police but injured one of his fingers in the process. After a short exchange of gunfire, police secured the house and detained two of the suspects. The third suspect managed to escape.
A few minutes after the exchange of gunfire, police managed to secure the house and apprehended two of the suspects while the third suspect managed to escape.
As at press time, the city police chief has yet to release a statement on the case which is being investigated under Section 3 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971.
When met later at Miri Hospital after visiting his wounded man, Cpl William Bell Joel, Lim said that all the suspects are locals.
“Police are on the hunt for the third suspect,” said Lim.
When asked on the motive of the shooting, he said it was apparently a robbery attempt.
“The injured suspect is a 50-year-old from Batu Niah while the second suspect is a 35-year-old man whose identity we have yet to verify,” said Lim.
Police seized a Steyr gun and some ammunition at the scene.
