Two Injured After High-Speed Car Chase Ends in Shooting

A man and a woman were injured Saturday night after gunmen driving an SUV opened fire on another car carrying a group of revelers who had spent the evening at a nightclub in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kok district, police said Sunday.

Kong Norith, 34, who was traveling in the passenger seat of his friend’s Toyota Camry, received injuries to his hand and left leg, while Vong Srey, 24, was shot in the head. Both are currently receiving treatment at Calmette Hospital and are in a stable condition.

“Police did not yet make any ar­rests and we are still investigating the case,” said Hout Chanyaran, Tuol Kok district police chief.

According to Mr. Chanyaran, the Toyota Camry, which was carrying four people, left the nightclub at around 10 p.m. and went to a restaurant on Kampuchea Krom Boulevard. After the four had finished at around 11:30 p.m., they got back into the car and drove away. Once on the road, they overtook another vehicle carrying the gunmen.

“The gunmen became annoyed and chased the Toyota Camry while shooting out the window. The two victims were injured when the car carrying the gunmen managed to pull alongside the car it was chasing and opened fire,” Mr. Chanyaran.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr. Norith said he had been caught completely by surprise when the gunmen opened fire on him and his friends.

“The gunmen shot at our car for absolutely no reason. It was very shocking they would open fire when all we did was overtake them,” he said, adding that neither he nor his friends knew the perpetrators or had met them in the nightclub.

“Bullets came from the back and went through the front of the car,” he said. “The two cars were going very fast.”

He also said that he and his friends had filed a complaint with police to arrest the gunmen. Municipal police chief Chuon Sovann declined to comment on the attack.

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