JOHOR BARU, Nov 15 — Police shot and killed a man they said had tried to run down several officers while trying to get away from the scene of an attempted shop burglary along Jalan NB2, 10/2 in Taman Nusa Bestari 2 here this morning.
Johor police chief Datuk Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd said the incident happened at 3.30am when policemen on crime prevention rounds were nearly hit by a speeding Proton Iswara car.
“A police team was in the midst of arresting another male suspect after a short chase in the lane behind the shop when a speeding car driven by an accomplice tried to mow down the policemen.
“Despite verbal warnings, the car’s driver continued to pursue them, forcing a policeman to fire a shot at the car in order to defend himself and the others,” he said today.
The Iskandar Puteri police district command centre had received a distress call earlier about a burglary in progress in Taman Nusa Bestari 2.
A team of plainclothes policemen who donned police vests was immediately dispatched to the location where they found a man acting suspiciously at the shop’s entrance.
Mohd Khalil said the suspect tried to flee by escaping into the back lane before he was caught and arrested.
The accomplice in the car appeared at this point.
Police are withholding the identities of both suspects. It was learnt that both are in their 40s.
Mohd Khalil said initial investigations revealed that the deceased was a fugitive with 15 past criminal records.
“Police also found some money believed to be from an earlier robbery,” he said.
