Two dead in KK drive-by shooting
KOTA KINABALU: Two men were killed in a drive-by shooting incident yesterday morning at Jalan Kolam, near the Petronas petrol station and Foh Sang.
The victims, identified as Hii Lam King, 36, and Ting Wen Hou, 23, both from Sibu, Sarawak but had been residing here, were killed on the spot in the 7.30am incident.
It was learnt that two men on a motorcycle had tailed the Toyota Land Cruiser driven by Hii before one of the suspects fired eight shots towards the driver’s side window.
The shots hit Hii and Ting, who was in the front passenger seat, while Ting’s twin brother in the back seat escaped unhurt.
The vehicle also rammed into the rear of a Perodua Myvi car driven by a woman who was reported unharmed in the incident.
Sabah Crime Investigation Department (CID) chief SAC Salehhudin Abd Rahman said initial police investigation showed that Hii had just sent his child to school and was believed to be heading to the city centre with the twin brothers from Lintas when the incident happened.
“Two men on a motorcycle approached the driver’s side of the vehicle and one of the assailants fired eight shots towards the window.
“Both the driver and the front passenger were killed instantly due to gunshot wounds,” he said when met at the scene yesterday.
Also present were city police chief ACP M. Chandra and Kota Kinabalu CID chief DSP Nor Azizulkifli Mansor.
According to Salehhudin, Hii had been staying in the state capital for the past several years and was working with his father-in-law, while the twin brothers were on a holiday visit.
“One of the twin brothers, who was killed, was a university student and was here for holiday,” he said.
When asked if the incident was motivated towards revenge and if the shooters were hired hitmen, Salehhudin said they are still investigating the case from all angles.
“We can’t say for sure. We have to investigate from all angles.”
When asked if the shooting was related to several other shooting incidents in Sarawak, Salehhudin declined to comment but said a thorough investigation will be carried out.
“For now, police have classified the case as murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code,” he added.
“All police elements have also been carried out including police roadblocks to track the suspects.
“Police also urge anyone with valuable information to come forward to assist police investigation,” said Salehhudin.
The incident caused a massive traffic jam during rush-hour yesterday as it happened along the busy Jalan Kolam, from Jalan Lintas heading towards the city centre.
Police were forced to cordon off the area, first some 50 metres before blocking off the entire Jalan Kolam road starting from the Lintas traffic light right up to the Foh Sang traffic light.
Traffic was however back to normal just before noon once the victims’ bodies were removed from the vehicle and taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for postmortem.