Three shot in Makassar clash between students

Three shot in Makassar clash between students

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post/Makassar

A third serious brawl in two months involving university students
in Makassar turned considerably more violent, after three people
suffered gunshot wounds following the latest clash early on
Monday.

Rizal, Khaeruddin and Ardi from the School of Letters at the
State University of Makassar (UNM) in the Parangtambung area were
shot during a clash with students from the School of Engineering.

Rizal was shot in his right thigh, Khaeruddin in his right arm
and Ardi in lower back. Witnesses said the shooters were armed
with home-made rifles.

The three are now being treated at the Bhayangkara Police
hospital, while the police are looking for the students who fired
the weapons as well as investigating the clash as a whole, the
third since early in July.

A company of 60 police personnel were sent to the campus to
conduct patrols and search for weapons among the students. Nobody
has been arrested or formally questioned yet.

All academic activities, including pre-registration of new
students and payment of tuition fees, continued later on Monday
despite the violence.

Rizal said at least 50 students from the School of Engineering
suddenly attacked him and a number of his colleagues at the
School of Letters who were gathered inside the school's main
office on campus around 1 a.m. on Monday. It remains unclear as
to what motivated the midnight raid.

"They had guns, sharp weapons, sticks and stones. We tried to
fight back. When some of them threatened to burn our office
building, I went out to chase them away. But as I went outside
one of them shot me," Rizal recounted.

Meanwhile, top university officials met with officials from
the School of Engineering, School of Letters and School of
Mathematics and Natural Sciences to prevent the ongoing feud from
escalating.

UNM deputy rector Abdul Gani said the university leaders had
given the police full access to conduct investigations into those
involved in the attack.

"Besides the police search, we are now looking for the
students ourselves. Any student who is proven to have used a gun
in the incident will be dismissed," he said.

Clashes pitting university students against are a common
occurrence in the city and around the country.

On July 12, at least five people suffered severe stab wounds
and two buildings were burned down after two rival groups from
the Indonesian Muslim University clashed over an initiation
program for freshmen. The students were armed with swords and
arrows during the fight.

A week before, the Makassar police arrested six students and
seized molotov cocktails, arrows and machetes in a crackdown on
Hasanuddin University students following a brawl that left
several students injured and scores of buildings damaged.