IGP: We only shoot when threatened

"We comply with and follow standard operating procedures (SOP) that have been and always have been there, " said Khalid at an award ceremony in Malacca today.

"There is no policy of shoot first. What we do now is that when criminals are threatening our lives then we act according to our existing SOP... which is to respond only if our lives are threatened , " he added.

Khalid's statement appears to, again, contradict the statements Home Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Zahid was first reported in news portal Malaysiakini to have said that no warnings should be given.

"The best way is not to compromise with them. Don't give them warnings. (Once) we have evidence, we shoot first," he reportedly said at a closed-door briefing.

In an interview on Astro AWANI, Zahid explained that his 'shoot first' statement was spoken in the context of five Gang 04 suspects shot dead in Penang on Aug 19.

His justification for the case was that police intelligence had found that the suspects were armed.

"I was referring to the incident in Penang where we received information that the five gang members were armed.

"The police could not be expected to fire a warning shot first and act only in self-defence later if they already know that the criminals were armed.

"If that's the case, many cops would have been dead. What I said (in Malacca) was the police's readiness because they had early information (about the criminals)," said the minister.