Kandal provincial police and Phnom Penh police are jointly searching for a policeman who allegedly shot and killed his brother-in-law, Mao Bun Heng, 25, on Wednesday in Chong Koh village, Koh Oknha Tei commune, Khsach Kandal district.
Chroy Changvar district police chief Siem Sothavuth said the suspect was a police official stationed in Bak Kheng commune in Phnom Penh.
He declined to provide further details as his department was still working on the case.
Khsach Kandal district police chief Sok Khoeun couldn’t be reached for comment but a district police official who declined to be named said the alleged victim’s relatives identified him as Heng, a businessman who lived in Chong Koh village.
They said Heng was shot in the throat and killed by the suspect.
The police official said the suspect is believed to be a 35-year-old policeman who lives in Chong Koh village but works at the Bak Kheng police station in Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changvar district.
He said the incident occurred at around 7:10pm on Wednesday evening. Before the incident, he said the suspect argued with his wife, Kong Sok Chea.
The official said the suspect pointed a gun at Sok Chea’s head, and Heng ran from his house, which was nearby, to save his sister.
The official said Heng stood in front of Sok Chea to protect her and reprimanded the suspect for pointing a gun at her.
When Heng finished speaking, the suspect fired a shot at the Heng’s throat, killing him immediately.
After committing the murder, the suspect escaped.
Provincial deputy police chief Roeun Nara told The Post on Thursday that the suspect and the victim had not yet been officially identified.
“Let me work on this case first. If the suspect was there, the police would have caught him already. I don’t want to say anything more,” he said.
Provincial police chief Chhoeun Sochet and a number of other police officials arrived at the scene as it was initially reported that the victim was a police officer in Koh Oknha Tei commune who had been in a fatal shootout with a police official from the Bak Kheng police station.
At the scene, police found a shotgun and a K59 shell casing.
