Police Fire Warning Shots During Pursuit of Driver in Toyota Calya Travelling in the Wrong Direction: Why?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - A video of police firing warning shots during a pursuit of a Toyota Calya driver travelling in the wrong direction on Jalan Gunung Sahari, Central Jakarta, went viral on social media on Thursday (26/2/2026).

As seen in the video uploaded to the Instagram account @jurnalwarga, a police officer fired a shot into the air as the Toyota Calya driver continued to drive in the wrong direction.

The shot appeared to be fired once. The vehicle then continued to speed away before being pursued by citizens and eventually stopped.

The Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Central Jakarta Metro Police, AKBP Roby Heri Saputra, said that the warning shots were fired in an attempt to make the Calya driver stop the vehicle.

“Yes, it is true that officers fired warning shots with the intention of making the driver stop. However, the driver did not stop,” Roby told reporters at the Gambir Police Station, Central Jakarta, on Thursday (26/2/2026).

However, Roby could not confirm how many shots were fired. He said that the shots were at the discretion of the police officers on the scene.

“It was at the discretion of the officers on the scene, based on their assessment, in order to stop the vehicle. These were warning shots; no shots were fired at the vehicle,” Roby explained.

Based on a video uploaded to the Instagram account @lintasjakartaupdate, the vehicle was seen speeding while driving in the wrong direction on a busy road.

While driving, the vehicle swerved and hit several cars and motorcycles before eventually being stopped by a group of citizens and the police.

According to the Head of the Central Jakarta Metro Police, Kombes Pol Reynold Hutagalung, the vehicle was driven by a man from Sidoarjo Regency, East Java, with the initials HM.

The vehicle was carrying one female passenger.

Reynold said that the incident began when the driver was suspected of using a fake license plate.

Before the incident of driving in the wrong direction, the vehicle was stopped by the police at around 5:00 PM.

“The vehicle with license plate number D-1640-AHB was suspected of using a fake license plate, so it was stopped by two traffic police officers,” Reynold told reporters at the Tanah Abang Police Station on Wednesday night.