Palestinian lecturer shot dead

KUALA LUMPUR: A Palestinian lecturer of a private university was shot to death as he was walking to a surau near a condominium in Jalan Meranti, Setapak, here early yesterday, according to police.

Kuala Lumpur Police chief Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim said the 35-year-old man was shot by one of two men on a high-powered motorcycle at the pedestrian walkway there at about 6 am.

“The suspect fired 10 shots, four of which hit the lecturer in the head and body. He died on the spot. The police also found two empty bullet shells there,” he said to reporters at the location.

Mazlan said the lecturer had also served as an imam at a mosque near the condominium where he had lived with his wife and three children.

Mazlan said a recording of a closed-circuit television camera near the scene showed the two assailants waiting for about 20 minutes for the lecturer to emerge from the condominium.

“We believe the lecturer was their target because two other individuals walked by the place earlier unharmed. We will view the recordings of all the CCTV in the area to identify the suspects and get the registration number of the motorcycle,” he said.

He said the police were looking into the motive for the killing from all angles, including the possible involvement of Daesh terrorists.

Mazlan appealed to eyewitnesses to help the police to identify the suspects.

The lecturer’s body was sent to the Selayang Hospital.

Meanwhile, a 32-year-old Egyptian friend of the lecturer, who declined to be identified, said he wondered why the lecturer had not turned up at the surau where he usually performed the dawn prayers.

“I went to the condominium to look for him after the prayers and was surprised to learn that he had been shot dead,” he said to reporters at the scene.

He said the lecturer had lived in Malaysia for 10 years and had moved into the condominium recently.