A 27-year-old fruit farmer was shot in the stomach on Tuesday night during an armed robbery of the house he shares with his aunt and uncle in Ratanakkiri province, according to police, who say the bandits made off with thousands of dollars worth of cash and jewelry.
The farmer was with his elderly aunt at their two-story house in Lumphat district when four men snuck onto the property at about 8:30 p.m., said district police chief Klol Thoeung, adding that he could not recall the name of the victim.
One of the men pointed a rifle at the aunt—who was outside turning off a generator—and demanded that she open a locked cabinet full of family valuables, while another walked upstairs, pointed a gun at the nephew and told him to drop the telephone he was using.
“But the victim did not comply, and tried to slowly go downstairs,” he said.
“While he was going down, the suspect shot him.”
District governor Nu The said the intruders stole $2,110 in cash, along with gold and platinum jewelry worth thousands more.
He said the victim was rushed to a local hospital and transferred to a medical facility in Vietnam.
The suspects remain at large.
