A military police officer working at a Phnom Penh garment factory shot two Asian foreigners, one fatally, following an argument over his salary on Saturday, police said.
Joo Kee Hahn, 52, chief of Yong Min factory’s production section, was shot twice in the head and once in the shoulder, Dangkao district Deputy police Chief Chuop Sok Heng said Sunday. He died on the way to the hospital.
Deputy manager Fung Hong, 42, was shot in the stomach and is in critical condition at Calmette Hospital, Chuop Sok Heng said.
The nationalities of the two men could not be confirmed.
Military police officer Chheang Deal, 45, who also worked at the factory as a deputy manager, was arrested about 15 minutes later, Chuop Sok Heng said.
Chuon Naren, chief of municipal penal police, said Chheang Deal had been working at the factory for several years but claimed he had never received a raise.
He approached Joo Kee Hahn in his office at about 2 pm and asked for an increase in salary, but the manager rejected the request, Chuon Naren said. Fung Hong was also in the office.
At that point, Chheang Deal reportedly pulled out a gun and shot the two men before running out of the factory, jumping a fence and fleeing to nearby Meanchey district where he was arrested, Chuon Naren said.
Chuon Naren said Chheang Deal always took his gun to work at the garment factory.
Special military police commander Prum Din said he was not involved in the case. “If Chheang Deal did something wrong, let the court handle it,” he said.
Ros Harvey, chief technical adviser for the International Labor Organization in Cambodia, said she was not aware of the case but said the organization would be investigating. “We are very concerned about any violence in a factory,” she said Sunday.
