Guard shoots dead man who took woman hostage during bank robbery

The guard opened fire from 5m when the would-be robber became aggressive.

KOTA TINGGI: An armed man who took a woman hostage during an attempted robbery at a bank at Felda Ayer Tawar 5 here was shot dead by a security guard today.

Johor CID chief Md Yusof Ahmad said the 19-year-old man had entered the bank and put a sickle to the neck of a female customer about 2pm.

“From the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera recording and witness statements, we found that the suspect came alone and suddenly grabbed the woman, who was in front of the bank, as a hostage.

“The suspect threw down a bag, demanding for money, placing the sickle to the neck of the woman.”

At this juncture, the security guard in the bank opened fire with his pump gun from about 5m away as the suspect was behaving aggressively, he added.

“The suspect was hit in the right ribs and died on the spot,” he said.

He said none of the bank staff or customers were injured in the incident.

Preliminary investigations showed that the suspect did not have any criminal record, he said. - FMT