Provincial police on Sunday sent the case of three Chinese nationals to court after a compatriot was shot dead in a Sihanoukville KTV parlour.

Preah Sihanouk provincial deputy police chief Kol Phally told The Post that the suspects and the victim went to the KTV parlour together for the evening.

In the early hours of Friday morning, an argument broke out after alcohol had been consumed, with the victim taking out a pistol and threatening the suspects. The suspects tried to take the gun from the victim, with the weapon discharging, hitting the man in the abdomen.

Phally said that the victim was a 28-year-old Chinese man who was staying at a nearby Sihanoukville hotel.

He was sent to Preah Sihanouk referral hospital, where he later died from a single gunshot wound.

“Regarding the weapon used to kill the man, the victim carried the gun [into the club] himself. We are investigating the suspects, and they will be charged with taking the weapon from the victim, which led to the shooting and his death,” Preah Sihanouk provincial police chief Chhuon Narin told The Post.

Police retrieved a black Austrian-made Glock 19 handgun and a magazine containing 11 bullets at the scene of the crime.

Police report shows that officers arrested a further 10 people in connection with the shooting – including two female witnesses – at the crime scene who will undergo questioning by the police.