Monday March 4, 2013

Villagers kill armed intruder

LAHAD DATU: A group of villagers from Kampung Senallang Lama here killed the armed gunman who allegedly claimed the lives of six policemen.

They killed him while he was attempting to take them and other villagers hostage.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said the gunman involved in a shootout with security forces at Kampung Sri Jaya at the Simunul seaside settlement walked 7km along the coast to their village.

Armed with an M16 assault rifle and a grenade launcher, the man knocked on doors ordering the villagers to assemble in one area before marching them to the mosque at about 5am.

As they were walking, a group of youths pounced on the 60-year-old Suluk gunman, overpowering and then killing him, Hamza said.

“Their actions were wrong from the point of the law but they were being held hostages.

“As such they had every right to defend themselves,” he added.

Villager Abdul Hani Samaullah, 44, said the man dressed in black, shouted: “I’m the one who shot the police last night.”

The man’s body with his head covered in blood was spotted lying under a tree by a Bernama reporter who passed the area at about 8.30am.

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