A jewelry shop owner shot and killed a robber who ambushed him at his home in Tbong Khmum province on Sunday, local police said Monday.
The robber was one of four men wearing Royal Cambodian Armed Forces uniforms who followed 52-year-old Pang Pov and his wife home from their shop on Sunday evening, according to provincial penal police chief Chak Sokhao.
After arriving at Mr. Pov’s home in Ponhea Krek district’s Korng Kang commune, three of the men jumped out of their Lexus SUV, shot Mr. Pov in the knee and snatched bags containing about $300,000 worth of jewelry from him and his wife, Mr. Sokhao said.
But Mr. Pov fought back and managed to grab a gun from one of the robbers, shooting and killing him. The other three men escaped during the scuffle with the bags of jewelry.
The man who was killed had also attempted to detonate a grenade during the scuffle, said Soy Yuo Lean, chief of the provincial police’s technical and scientific bureau.
“The victim said that after he was shot in the knee, he ran back into the house and hid behind a corner,” Mr. Yuo Lean said.
“When the suspect who shot him followed him inside, [Mr. Pov] wrestled him and stole the suspect’s gun and shot him in the left side of his torso,” he said. “When the suspect reached for his grenade, the victim shot him in the head.”
An AK-47, four bullet casings from a handgun and the grenade were found at the scene, he added.
Provincial police chief Mao Pov said the three suspects who fled have been linked to other robberies in Kompong Chhnang, Takeo and Kompong Speu provinces.
Brigadier General Pov declined to name the suspects or the dead man, whom he identified only as a 31-year-old from Kompong Speu province who had previously served jail time.
“We have not arrested anyone yet, but we are still working to crack the case,” he said.
