Chandra showing the cleaver that was used by the suspect to attack the police as CID chief DSP Nor Azizulkifli Mansor (right) and other police officers look on.
KOTA KINABALU: A wanted criminal armed with a meat cleaver was shot by police at a parking lot in Taman Bukit Setia, Sepanggar, early yesterday morning.
City police chief ACP M. Chandra said that in the incident, three police personnel from Manggatal were on patrol duty when they spotted a suspicious man in the driver’s seat of a Honda City car parked in Taman Bukit Setia in Sepanggar around 2am.
“Police approached the vehicle and introduced themselves, and asked the man to come out of the vehicle, but he ignored them.
“Police had no choice but to break the window at the driver’s side as he refused to come out after being ordered several times.
“The man then behaved aggressively as he pulled out a cleaver and swung the weapon at one of the police personnel.
“Police had no choice but to fire two shots at the suspect in self defence,” said Chandra when met at the scene yesterday.
Chandra said the 35-year-old suspect sustained two gunshot wounds, one under his right armpit and another at his right ribs and is currently being treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and reported to be in stable condition.
According to Chandra, police investigation revealed the suspect was involved in at least 13 crime cases between December last year and January this year.
“Among the crimes committed by the suspect were a robbery, two vehicle theft cases, nine burglaries with the latest being a robbery in Keningau,” he said.
Chandra added that the robbery in Keningau had led police to identify the suspect and the stolen Honda City car.
“Our counterparts have informed all district police to be on the lookout for the suspect and we managed to apprehend him here today (yesterday),” he said, adding that police confiscated a cleaver, a parang and tools used by the suspect in his activities.
The case is currently being investigated under Section 307 of the Penal Code for attempted murder.