KUCHING: Today’s shooting incident involving the deaths of four Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) personnel at Kota Samarahan camp, is the first case in Sarawak.
Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Aidi Ismail said there were no such cases recorded in the state.
“So far, this is the first one. If we are talking about accidental shooting cases, then there was one in May this year, at Sibu.
“However, there are no such cases like this where the shooter went on a rampage,” he said.
However, there have been reported cases of rampage shooting in the Peninsula, notably involving the notorious ‘Private Adam’.
In October 1987, Adam Jaafar also known as ‘Private Adam’ became notorious when he ran amok in Jalan Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur.
The 23-year-old Ranger Regiment sharpshooter stole an M16 assault rifle and a motorcycle from his camp in Ipoh on Oct 17.
He then travelled to Kuala Lumpur at a time when political tension was high. The next night, he wrote a message on his hotel room mirror: “A damned night for Adam. Mission: To kill or be killed.”
He left his hotel and went on a shooting spree in Jalan Chow Kit, which resulted in one death from a bullet ricochet and several people injured. He also shot at cars and a petrol station fuel tank which burst into flames.
Private Adam’s rampage was allegedly an act of revenge for the death of his younger brother.
Adam died at the age of 57 on March 30 this year, following a lung infection in Penang Hospital.
Meanwhile, in Dec 2016, a bodyguard with military background, reportedly ran amok and killed three people including a Datuk on the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway in Penang.
The then State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief SAC Zainol Samah said the suspect believed to be the bodyguard of the Datuk, was in the same vehicle with the victims when he took out his gun and opened fire.
Police said the suspect who was in his late 30s, was believed to be “mentally ill”, although his illness was not specified.
Four people were also injured during the 7.30pm incident, one of them was a RTM videographer shot in the left shoulder.
Early this year, on May 8, a former soldier was shot dead after he attacked the 4th Battalion Border Regiment control post in Gerik, Ipoh.
Perak police chief Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said the 35-year-old man, armed with a parang, had entered the army premises by climbing the fence at the front gate at 6.45pm.
“Soldiers at the guard post issued a warning for him to stop but he acted aggressively by attacking them with his weapon.
“In the ensuing struggle, the soldiers shot the man, who was then taken to Gerik Hospital by police. He was pronounced dead on arrival,” he said in a statement.
Investigations showed that the man joined the army in 2003 but his service was terminated in 2013 because he had mental health problems.
Fatal shootings are unusual in the country due to strict gun ownership laws.
