Phnom Penh police on Wednesday arrested two Chinese nationals suspected of being involved in the fatal shooting of a soldier, who was killed as a mob chased a bookshop robber through a housing complex on Sunday, an official said.
The two men were arrested at a house in Pur Senchey district’s Choam Chao commune during the morning and taken to the district police station for questioning, district police chief Yim Sarann said.
He declined to identify the suspects or explain how they were allegedly involved in the crime. “If you want to know the details, please wait until tomorrow,” he said.
On Sunday, police said they were searching for a man—believed to be a Chinese national—who robbed a bookstore at about 2 p.m. that day and then fatally shot Yeng Rinang, a 23-year-old soldier who was moonlighting as a security guard at a nearby construction site.
The suspect had been fleeing a mob of villagers through the Borey Vogo housing complex at the time, police said.
You Sokheng, a 27-year-old soldier, said on Wednesday that the armed man had also shot at him through a window in the housing complex.
“The bullet didn’t hit me, but pieces of glass hit my hands and body, causing me minor injuries,” he said. “The bullet hit my friend in two places and killed him.”
Phnom Penh police deployed a drone on Monday as they searched for the suspect in the area, which is thick with overgrown brush and abandoned buildings.
Commune chief Sot Sat said he had no details of the arrests and referred questions to police, but explained that a rapidly growing population in the area and lack of resources was making it difficult to prevent crime.
“Our forces have been working day and night to maintain security, but the population is growing so fast,” he said.
