A 36-year-old woman was shot dead in broad daylight shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday morning in Phnom Penh’s Pur Senchey district when two gunmen pulled up alongside her motorbike in busy traffic and opened fire six times, hitting her twice, police said.
Kim Socheata, who was driving her Icon motorbike with her mother on the back seat, died at the scene, said district police chief Yoeun Sarann.
“Two men carrying handguns who were riding a Honda Dream motorbike fired six shots at close range hitting the victim twice, once below her breast through her rib cage on the right side and by a second shot through the left side of her knee,” he said.
Mr. Sarann said police suspected a revenge killing and were speaking with the family, who said their daughter had recently been having problems with her husband.
“This was a premeditated revenge killing that we believe is a revenge case and if the victim’s family cooperates with the police investigation it will be easy to bring the killers to light and find the ringleader behind the murder,” he said.
People at the crime scene Wednesday said they did not witness the shooting as they were only alerted to the incident by the sound of gunfire and by the victim’s mother subsequently calling for help.
“I was at the corner of the street and only heard the gunfire and a short time later saw the traffic jam up because so many people came to see the spot where the victim died,” said 34-year-old motodop Nin Mach.
