Man shot dead for robbery
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police officers shot dead late on Thursday in Tangerang a man who was allegedly a member of a group involved in a series of robberies on public minivans.
The man, identified as 25-year-old Herman, died from a single shot to his chest after threatening to attack police officers who were trying to arrest him, city police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said.
His accomplice, 25-year-old Wesi, managed to flee after the two were found on a minivan with a bag containing weapons, officer Lubis said.
Lubis said that on Wednesday police arrested another member of the group, identified as Jamal, robbing minivan passengers with his accomplices on the Kota Bumi-Kali Deres route.
Based on information provided by Jamal, police started a search for other members of the group.
"Jamal told police he did not know where Herman and Wesi lived, but only knew where they worked," Lubis said.
Police were told the two worked at an automotive workshop in the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport compound in Cengkareng.
"When police detectives checked for them at the airport, the two were on leave," Lubis said.
Further information from Jamal then led police to the Kalideres bus terminal in West Jakarta, where the two wanted men were said to wait for public minivans to target.
Herman and Wesi left the bus terminal on a minivan shortly before police arrived.
Police pursued the minivan and found it on Jl. Tanah Tinggi in Tangerang at around 9 p.m.
It was unclear how many people were inside the minivan, but Lubis said the two criminals rushed out of the vehicle, carrying a bag containing sharp weapons.
"Police fired a warning shot, telling them to drop their weapons, but they ignored it," he said.
Wesi immediately ran away, but Herman allegedly challenged the police to fight him.
A police officer fired another warning shot, but Herman continued to threaten the officers with a weapon.
"When he came closer to one of the police detectives, another officer shot Herman in the chest," Lubis said. (emf)