DPR bullet from hunting rifle, says officer

JAKARTA (JP): A senior military officer said on Tuesday that the rifle that fired the bullet that broke the window of a United Development Party (PPP) legislator's office on Monday was not a standard military rifle.

"The caliber of the bullet was 9 mm, which is the size of the barrel of a Steyr rifle.

"It's not a standard military rifle," Lt. Col. Budi Rahmat, chief of the Central Jakarta Military District Command, told The Jakarta Post.

"The shooter must have used a Steyr hunting rifle to shoot into the legislator's office," he added.

Budi said the identification was made following an investigation by the Forensic Laboratory at National Police Headquarters.

"Details of the bullet were confirmed in a meeting between chief of intelligence at the Central Jakarta Military District and some duty officers of the city police this morning," he said.

The bullet was fired through the window of legislator Suryadharma Ali's office on the 16th floor of the 20-story office block of the House of Representatives (DPR) at the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) complex.

No one was hurt in the shooting incident, which took place either Saturday or Sunday.

Separately, National Police Chief Lt. Gen. Rusdihardjo told reporters, after installing the new Jakarta Police Chief that the shooting was not an attempt to terrorize the legislator.

He said that the shooter did not seriously mean to aim and fire his gun at the office.

"If it's a terrorist attack, why should he or she do it there? I think it was just someone playing around (with his gun)," Rusdihardjo said.

Budi speculated that the bullet was fired from near the Senayan shooting range.

"The office faces toward the Senayan shooting range, and the bullet was most likely fired from that place," he said.

Rusdi, head of the operational section of the Senayan shooting range, ruled out the possibility of the bullet being fired from there.

"Our customers usually use pistols or rifles to shoot targets at short ranges of 10 and 25 meters, the farthest being 50 meters," he said at his office on Tuesday.

He said the customers had never used guns with a large caliber bullet such as the 9 mm.

"The shooting range is used by shooting athletes. They usually use guns with smaller caliber of 22 mm for rifles and 32 mm for pistols," he said.

A source at the Jakarta Chapter of the Indonesian Shooting Association (Perbakin) said the gun which fired the 9 mm bullet was not a rifle.

"The Steyr hunting rifle does not exist. The gun was a Steyr- Mannlicher, and it is not a hunting rifle. People usually use the pistol for combat shooting," the source said at his office, which is located in the shooting range complex.

The source, a member of the association's hunting division, said athletes usually use the rifle for reaction shooting.

"The rifle can only shoot targets effectively up to 50 m," he said.

He said it was impossible that the bullet was fired from the shooting range as the shooting range is located 700 m from the office. (asa)