Four police officers in Phnom Penh were shot and injured, one critically, Wednesday while attempting to arrest two men allegedly trying to steal a motorcycle in Tuol Kok district, police said.
Armed with a K-59 handgun, one of the alleged thieves shot all four Phsar Depot I commune police officers before they returned fire and killed the unidentified shooter, district deputy police Chief Chum Sambor said.
The other alleged thief, also unidentified, fled the scene on another motorcycle, he added.
Deputy commune police Chief Kim Kolido, 37, was shot in the left thigh; First Lieutenant Chan Mab, 40, was shot in the stomach and is in critical condition; Second Lieutenant Sang Kunthy, 38, was shot in his right hand; and Sergeant Major Oung Samnang, 39, was also shot in his right hand, Chum Sambor said.
“We confiscated a K-59 without bullets and large iron bolt cutters,” he said.
Municipal police Chief Touch Naruth could not be reached for comment and Tuol Kok district police Chief Huot Chan Youran said he was too busy to speak with reporters.
Including Wednesday’s shooting, nine police officers have been shot, two fatally, in Phnom Penh while making arrests in the past three weeks.
On April 22, Interior Ministry anti-human trafficking police officer Kep Samon allegedly killed two municipal anti-drug trafficking police and shot three others while being arrested in Daun Penh district.
The municipal court charged Kep Samon on April 24 with intentional killing, illegal use of a weapon and drug trafficking.