Businessman Shot Dead in Robbery: Police

Well-known businessman Keo Iv, 51, was shot and killed during a robbery at his home Wednesday afternoon in Phnom Penh’s Cham­kar Mon district, officials said.

Seven men followed Keo Iv from Olympic Market, where his wife ran a currency exchange and jewelry shop, to his home on Street 318, commune police chief Kut Kim said.

As Keo Iv and his wife pulled up to their home at 5:15 pm, one robber broke the driver’s side window with a hammer and shot Keo Iv in the left eye before reaching in and grabbing a moneybag. Police were then caught in a brief gunbattle with members of the gang.

“We shot 10 times into the air to stop them while they were escaping,” Kut Kim said, adding that three robbers returned fire with K-59 pistols as they fled on motorcycles. “Our police shot back at the robbers for a few minutes before they escaped.”

Keo Iv was pronounced dead at 7:30 pm at Calmette Hospital, where more than 20 family and friends waited, including the victim’s wife, who was still in bloodstained clothing.

Keo Iv’s family declined to reveal the amount of money stolen.

Keo Iv was general manager of Oral Group Co, a producer of bottled water, and was a guest anchor on CTN and other local stations.

Hours before the shootout Wednes­day, he had completed filming for CTN talk show “Econ­omics in Cambodia,” which is yet to air on television, said CTN news anchor Soy Sopheap.

Municipal police Chief Touch Naruth said the suspects are youths.

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