SELANGOR: Malaysian police have identified the suspect involved in a shooting at a shopping mall in Setia Alam, Selangor on Saturday (Feb 8), as a local man in his 30s with 11 prior criminal records.
An intense manhunt is now underway, Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan said in a statement released on Sunday, which was also carried by Malaysian media outlets.
“We are in the midst of tracking him down. The motive for the attack is still under investigation,” he added.
Police were first alerted to an incident reported at 10.50pm on Saturday at the Setia City Mall.
The suspect had fired four shots at a cleaner when he entered the shopping mall, injuring him in his legs and buttocks before the gunman escaped to another floor where he continued firing additional shots, Selangor police said.
Gunfire shattered a glass stairwell window as well as a sliding door, they added.
The suspect then entered the car park, attempting to flee.
“A mall patron was hailed down by the suspect but he kept on driving. The suspect then fired a shot that hit the car,” Hussein said, adding that the victim has since filed a police report.
The suspect then turned his attention towards another car, a Perodua Ativa, which stopped, and held the driver at gunpoint, Hussein added.
“The suspect forced the driver to get him out of the mall. He then instructed the driver to drop him off near the Pandamaran exit of the Kesas Expressway,” he said.
Selangor police officers recovered more than 10 bullet casings from various areas in the mall including stairwells and parking areas.
Following the attack, the cleaner, who had been shot in his leg and buttocks, managed to get help and was rushed to the Shah Alam Hospital for treatment, Hussein said. The cleaner is now in stable condition.
Social media has been abuzz with reports of the shooting, with pictures and eyewitness videos taken from inside the mall circulating widely on Reddit.
Recalling the incident, a 20-year-old beauty store employee said she was handing out perfume samples to customers when she suddenly heard two loud bangs, around 40m away from her workplace.
“At that moment, I had no idea what the sound was. When I looked towards the door leading to the staircase, I saw two cleaning staff members in distress,” she told the New Straits Times news outlet.
Upon hearing a third gunshot, Aishah saw people rushing out and running in all directions, abandoning their belongings.
Many began shouting for everyone in the mall to flee to safety, she added. “I heard more than five gunshots. Each time I heard one, I ran, terrified that I might come face to face with the suspect,” she said.
“I didn’t even have time to close the outlet last night. I only had my phone in my hand… My handbag and identification card were left behind.”
Another eyewitness, Uyun Ridhwan, 28, a supervisor at a nearby fitness centre, said he managed to help a family to safety by bringing them into his shop and lowering the shutters.
“As we were about to close, my staff and I suddenly heard a gunshot, which we initially thought was something falling,” he told the New Straits Times.
“But when the shots continued, everyone started running. We managed to shelter a family of four who happened to enter our store. At first, we told them to hide, then we pulled down the shutters.”
