A man was shot dead and another wounded by military police in Dangkao district Tuesday afternoon, leading angry locals to set a municipality truck on fire, said district deputy police chief Choup Sok Heng.
A military policeman fired his weapon at about 1:30 pm on National Route 3 after a truck passed through a “mobile” checkpoint without stopping, he said.
The bullet grazed the left arm of Chap Chamroeum, 22, who was on the back of a motorcycle riding away from the checkpoint, hitting the bike’s driver Dith Piseth, 21, in the back and killing him.
“Maybe the military policeman wanted to shoot the truck’s tires but accidentally ricocheted a bullet at the boys, or maybe the policeman intended to shoot the boys,” Choup Sok Heng said. “We don’t know.”
Khan Neang, 37, of the municipal military police motorcycle brigade, is suspected of firing the fatal shot, Choup Sok Heng said. Police are searching for Khan Neang, who fled the scene, he said.
Angered by the incident, a mob of about 300 onlookers from two nearby villages swarmed the checkpoint, setting ablaze a municipal public works truck that was parked by police vehicles.
Chan Soveth, spokesman for local rights group Adhoc, said witnesses saw police throwing rocks at the truck passing through the checkpoint to force it to stop.
Witnesses also said that the slain man, Dith Piseth, was the brother of the truck driver who didn’t stop, and had argued with the officers at the checkpoint. Villagers alleged that it was only after the argument that police shot the two teenagers, Chan Soveth said.
They said when villagers came to help the gunshot victims, the military police officer taunted them and threatened to shoot, yelling that he still had eleven bullets in his pistol, Chan Soveth said.
Municipal Court Prosecutor Ngeth Sarath said he ordered district police to investigate further before issuing an arrest warrant.
