Officer runs amok, kills two

BANDUNG (JP): An apparently drunken military officer shot and killed two teenagers at the Air Force housing complex on Monday night, sources said yesterday.

The incident happened when the guard, Chief Corporal Untung, lost his temper in an argument with the victims, Andri and Rini, both aged 19 and residents of the housing complex.

The officer accused the victims, who happened to be relatives, of stealing the motorbike they rode. He threatened to arrest the victims if they did not confess.

Upon realizing that the officer was drunk, they tried to leave. But as they moved, the guard grabbed his gun and pulled the trigger.

A reliable source said the single .38 caliber bullet traveled through Andri's neck and went into Rini's body. Andri died on the spot and Rini later at hospital.

Andri's father, Second Lt. Rismanto, and Rini's father, Chief Sgt. Sunarto, strongly denied the guard's accusation that the teenagers had stolen a motorbike.

Chief of the West Java military district, Lt. Col. C.H.B. Herman Ibrahim, said yesterday he was yet to receive a full report on the shooting.

Untung has been detained at the Bandung/Cimahi military police headquarters for questioning. (17/pan)