KOTA KINABALU 11th: A two-hour standoff between police and an armed man who held a woman at knife point along Jalan Damai, here Last night ended without any untoward incident.
The incident, which happened in full view of the public between 7.40pm and 9.30pm, saw the shirtless man dragging his hostage by the neck with a six-inch knife and walking some 1.5 kilometers backwards while threatening police not to come close.
Acting city police chief Superintendent George Abd Rakman said the incident happened around 7.35pm when the suspect initially entered a house at Taman Istimewa with the intention to commit robbery.
“Somehow, the home owner managed to yell for help prompting the suspect to flee to a neighbour’s house.
“We believe the neighbour then came out to see what was going on when the suspect then took one of the occupants at knife point.
“Police arrived at the scene and told the suspect to surrender but was ignored by the latter, who then dragged the woman some 1.5 km away from the house towards Jalan Damai,” he said when met at the scene last night.
Police cordoned off both ends of the Damai road as they continued to negotiate with the suspect to release the woman and surrender.
The suspect however continued to threaten to slit the woman’s throat if the authorities came any closer.
At one point, the suspect was seen sitting on the road, with the knife still at the woman’s neck.
After intense negotiation, the suspect finally dropped the knife and lay on the road to surrender as police immediately swarmed in and overpowered the man.
The hostage situation ended at 9.30pm without any untoward incident.
Meanwhile, George said the woman, in her 20s, only sustained minor injury and was immediately taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital II for treatment.
When asked about police action regarding the incident, George said that their number one priority was the safety of the woman.
“Our priority was the safety of the woman and we tried to prevent any untoward incident from happening
“We even told the suspect that he may walk away if he released the woman unharmed.
“After about two hours of negotiation, the suspect surrendered without putting up a fight.
“Luckily nobody was hurt and no gun shot was fired,” said George, dismissing reports that went viral in social media claiming that police had opened fire towards the suspect.
The suspect, believed to be a foreigner aged 27, was arrested and remanded for investigation.
The case is currently being investigated under the Kidnapping Act and Section 307 of the Penal Code for attempted murder. BNN.
