Johor police probe shooting at petrol station, links to body with multiple gunshot wounds dumped at hospital

CNA

a day ago

SINGAPORE: Johor police are investigating a shooting incident at a petrol station in Iskandar Puteri, and its possible link to a body with multiple gunshot wounds that was left at a hospital in the early hours of Thursday (Jul 3) morning.
Johor police chief M Kumar said in a statement that the authorities were alerted to a man's body left at Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Bahru at about 1.40am on Thursday.
The body had no identification documents and closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage showed the deceased was left at the hospital by two individuals in a dark coloured car, he said in a statement posted on Johor police's Facebook page on Friday.
A post-mortem conducted confirmed that the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen.
Fingerprint records identified the victim as a 42-year-old Indian male from Sungai Petani in Kedah. The deceased was also found to have previous criminal records, Kumar said in his statement.
Initial police investigations showed that before the body was discovered, a suspected robbery attempt had happened at a Shell petrol station in Gelang Patah at about 12.12am.
A group of men armed with knives had attacked another group of men, one of whom was armed with a gun, which resulted in gunfire, the statement added.
CCTV footage circulating on Facebook and WhatsApp showed a silver car driving up to a black Honda parked at a petrol station.
A group of four men holding machetes exited the car and began smashing the windows of the Honda. A series of gunshots could then be heard, before the four men fled, three in their car and one on foot.
Three men were later seen coming out of the Honda, before two of them drove off in it.
Based on the information they gathered, officers from the Johor police's Criminal Investigation Department and the Iskandar Puteri district police headquarters arrested three suspects in the Dang Wangi area in Kuala Lumpur.
The suspects are two Malaysians and one Indian national, aged between 30 and 40. A Glock 19 pistol, a firearm licence, a magazine containing six 9mm bullets, a black Honda Accord and spent shell casings were seized during the arrest, according to the police chief's statement.
Kumar said one of the suspects works as a personal bodyguard and preliminary investigations found that he holds a firearm licence. However, further investigations will be conducted to determine the legitimacy of the firearm ownership.
All three suspects have been remanded for seven days from Jul 4 to Jul 10 to assist with ongoing investigations, which include determining the victim's connection to the suspects and both incidents.
The case is currently being investigated for murder, rioting with weapons and for discharging a firearm outside a shooting range.
The police are still working on tracking down the other suspects who are still at large, said Kumar.
He urged the public not to speculate or make comments that could interfere with the investigation or distort the facts, especially on social media.
'This is an isolated incident. There is no broader threat to public safety, and Johor remains secure,' he said.