Crime Investigation Department chief SAC Omar Mammah (centre) with Penampang police chief DSP Ratan Kumar Singh and other police officers carrying out investigation at the scene on Saturday night.
KOTA KINABALU: A businessman from Sarawak succumbed to a gunshot wound at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) here about two hours after he was shot from close range by an assailant near a coffee shop at Beverly Hill in Bundusan, Penampang on Saturday night.
Tiong Choon Kwong, 44, a resort operator from Kuching, Sarawak, passed away at 12.10am yesterday.
It was learnt that Tiong was talking on his cellphone outside the coffee shop in Beverly around 10.30pm on Saturday when a white vehicle approached and the attacker fired at the victim, hitting him on his right ribs.
The victim collapsed on the road while his friends who were believed inside the coffee shop, immediately ran to his aid.
It was also learnt that a police officer who was patrolling near the area immediately sent the victim to QEH for treatment.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said initial police investigation believed more than one people was involved in the case.
“Initial police investigation shows an unidentified white vehicle drove up towards the victim while he was on his cellphone outside a coffee shop.
“One of the suspects then shot the victim at close range before they fled the scene in the vehicle,” he said, adding that initial police investigation believed the vehicle was a Perodua Kancil, Viva or Myvi.
Hamza said the victim sustained one gunshot wound, believed to be from a shot-gun, at close range.
He added police were still investigating the motive of the attack and the suspects involved in the case.
No arrest has been made and the case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
It was learnt that Tiong, who operated a resort at DinawanIsland off Papar, leaves behind a wife and two children.
His family was not in the state capital when the incident happened.
This was the eighth shooting case in the country in the past one week.
On Saturday, a gunman cooly walked into a house and fired four shots at close range, killing a security guard in Kajang.
All four shots found their mark on Balamurali Balakrishnan’s chest as he was resting in the living room of the house in Lorong C 3/24, Cheras Perdana.
The 36-year-old former convict died on the spot in the 1.30pm incident which appeared to bear the hallmark of a gangland-style slaying.
Last Saturday, crime watchdog MyWatch chairman R Sri Sanjeevan was shot once in the chest by a pillion rider when he stopped his BMW at a traffic light in Taman Cempaka, Negeri Sembilan, at about 4.30pm.
Seriously injured, he is now reported to be in a stable condition.
A day later, security firm owner Jasrafveendeerjeet Singh, 25, was killed when a gunman fired at least four shots at him.
The shots also injured two of his friends who were having drinks at a restaurant in Ipoh.
The next day, a gunman crept up behind Arab Malaysian Banking Group founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi and his wife as they emerged from the KuanYinTemple in Lorong Ceylon in Kuala Lumpur.
The 75-year-old banker took two shots in the chest and died on the spot.
His wife was injured.
G Santhana Samy was shot in his right thigh by a gunman while driving in Jalan Mengkuang, Bukit Mertajam on the same day.
He was taken to KulimHospital for treatment.
On Wednesday, a factory van driver, N Jeevandran, 26, was found dead, with two gunshot wounds on his body in Jalan Permai Utama, Parit Buntar.
And on Friday, a gold merchant Wong Foo Yui escaped with only a bullet wound on his shoulder despite being shot at three times by an assailant, when he stopped at a traffic light in Pandan Indah, Ampang at 8.45am.