RANAU: Just a week after a Sarawakian businessman was gunned down in Bundusan, Penampang, another shooting was reported in the state.
The second shooting took place along the Semporna-Kota Kinabalu road, near Sagindai, Ranau when an unknown man allegedly fired two gunshots into the air in front of 43 passengers inside an express bus around 4pm on Friday (August 9).
It was believed that the shooter and two of his companions were heading to Semporna in a black Toyota Fortuner when the express bus was said to have overtaken the four-wheel-drive vehicle.
It was said that the Fortuner driver then chased after the express bus and ordered the bus driver to pull over.
The Fortuner driver then confronted the 37-year-old express bus driver, who was still seated at the driver’s seat, and threatened the latter.
A couple of minutes later, the Fortuner driver left the bus and went back to his vehicle, only to pull out a weapon, believed to be a silver pistol and fired two shots into the air.
The shooter then left the scene with his friends, believed to be a man and a woman.
Ranau police chief DSP Abd Rahman Kassim said a police report had been lodged by the bus driver at the Ranau police station the same day.
“The police have carried out an investigation to identify the four-wheel-drive vehicle, the shooter and his accomplices,” he said.
Based on investigation the police believed the weapon used was an Automatic Colt Pistol after a WIN 380 shell was found at the scene.
“The bullet shell was handed to us by the bus driver after the incident,” he said, adding that the case would be investigated under Section 39 of the Firearms Act 1960.
Abd Rahman said none of the passengers, including the driver, were hurt in the incident.
He urged anyone with information about the case to come forward to assist police in their investigation.
This was the second shooting incident reported within a week in the state.
On August 3, the Sarawakian businessman was gunned down outside a coffee shop at Beverly Hills Commercial Centre in Bundusan, Penampang.
Tiong Choon Kwong, 44, a resort operator from Kuching, passed away at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital after sustaining one gunshot wound on his right ribs after his assailant shot him at close range with a shotgun while he was talking on his cellphone around 10.30pm.
Police have detained two men, a local and a Sarawakian, who they believe could assist in the murder investigation.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib on Friday said both men, in their 30s, were picked up by police on August 7.
