13 soldiers arrested over fatal shooting of comrade

Thirteen soldiers have been arrested over the fatal shooting of a comrade and injuring of two civilians involving a commando outside a convenience store in Lahad Datu early yesterday.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said the soldiers were hauled up in Lahad Datu since yesterday and 13 guns were recovered from them.

They are being remanded until June 4 to facilitate investigations into the shooting and the case is deemed solved with their arrests, he told reporters here today.

Sabah CID chief SAC Omar Mamah had said that a suspect was arrested yesterday afternoon.

In the 4.45am incident, a commando was believed to have fired several shots to quell a commotion outside the Gemilang 24-hour convenience store.

Lance Corporal Muhamad Fiffixezapey Mat Hussin, 28, who was hot on the left chest succumbed to injuries at the Lahad Datu Hospital.

The two civilians injured were Indonesia nationals aged 31 and 38 who were bouncers at a night club.

In TAWAU, Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri said the ministry would leave it to the police to investigate the shooting.

He said the Defence Ministry viewed the incident seriously as it involved members of the security forces.

"We'll have to wait until the police complete their investigations into the case," he told reporters after attending a briefing on the San Shui National Service Training Camp today.

He said the suspect might be charged in a public court as the incident involved civilians and occurred at a public area outside army camps.

Abdul Rahim also said the Standard Operating (SOP) on the use of firearms while on duty and off-duty would be fine-tuned if there were drawbacks, but it would depend on the outcome of the police investigations into the case.

"We'll study whether the SOP was abided by or not. If it was observed, it's okay, otherwise we'll see what kind of actions we can be taken to plug the loopholes. We'll review it after the police conclude the investigations," he said.