Police in Phnom Penh on Thursday arrested four suspects in the shooting and robbery of a teenage hotel worker outside an ATM early Wednesday morning, saying that one of them confessed to his role in the crime.
According to witnesses, 19-year-old Bin Thavat was followed by two men on a motorbike as he drove to an ATM on Sothearos Boulevard at about 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, according to Chum Koy, chief of police in Chamkar Mon district’s Boeng Keng Kang II commune.
At some point after he stepped off his own motorbike—a 2016 Honda Dream—to withdraw cash from the ATM, the two men shot him twice in the left shoulder and once in the right thigh, the police chief said.
“They followed behind him and when the victim stopped to withdraw money from the ATM, there was a gunshot,” he said, adding that commune police rushed him to Calmette Hospital, where he remains in serious but stable condition.
After shooting Mr. Thavat, the men stole his Honda Dream and drove off into the night, he said.
Citing information provided by police, commune clerk Neang Sophanna said the teenager was shot when he tried to stop the men from taking his motorbike—an expensive model valued by robbers for its acceleration and ubiquity.
“After the victim fought back, they started shooting,” he said.
Khuon Nguon, deputy Daun Penh district police chief, said officers pulled over 18-year-old Khat Sokhim for driving a motorbike without a licence plate at about 1:30 a.m. on Thursday and upon questioning him, determined that he was a suspect in the shooting.
He said Mr. Sokhim “confessed” to his involvement in the violent robbery but declined to say more about the case.
Heang Thareth, a deputy district police chief, said three other suspects were arrested on Street 271 on Thursday and had been handed over to the municipal police’s serious crimes bureau for questioning.
Bureau chief Eng Sorphea said the men had been interrogated, but that it was still unclear which of them carried out the shooting and robbery.
