A suspect with prior drug offences was shot dead in Perak after attacking arresting officers with a parang, prompting a self-defence response from police.
LARUT: A man was shot dead after he attempted to attack a team of policemen with a parang as they moved in to arrest him at a fruit orchard hut in Kampung Klian Gunung Ijok, Batu Kurau, near here yesterday.
Perak police chief Datuk Mohd Alwi Zainal Abidin said the 39-year-old man was believed to have been involved in an incident on June 23 in which two policemen from the Selama district police headquarters’ Narcotics Criminal Investigation Division were injured.
He said acting on information from the public, police tracked down the suspect, believed to be a drug addict, who was hiding in the hut at about 8.20 am yesterday.
“When they approached the hut to arrest him, the suspect immediately got up, grabbed a parang and attempted to attack and slash the policemen, posing a threat to their safety.
“In self-defence, one shot was fired at the suspect’s leg,” he told a media conference at the Selama district police headquarters here today.
Mohd Alwi said the suspect, despite collapsing, continued to resist arrest, resulting in a struggle before officers managed to seize the machete.
He said a medical team that arrived at the scene at about 9.20 am later pronounced the suspect dead.
“A post-mortem is being conducted by a pathologist at Taiping Hospital, and the results are not yet available,” he said.
He said the suspect, who worked as a labourer, had 10 previous records involving criminal and drug-related offences.
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