Hasyim Widhiarto and Andra Wisnu, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 10/01/2009 11:32 AM
A group of unknown men attacked the Sriwijaya Air ticket counter at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, breaking windows and causing panic, before police fired at them.
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Chrysnanda Dwi Laksana said the incident had occurred at around 4:30 p.m. at the airport's Terminal 1.
"They were armed with sharp weapons, and they attacked all of a sudden, with no clear motive," he told The Jakarta Post.
At a later press conference, airport police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Guntur Setyanto said 10 to 15 men were involved in the attack, having entered the airport facility in a Toyota Kijang minivan and a Suzuki Vitara SUV.
Police officers near the scene of the crime chased down the assailants, firing three warning shots into the air.
The men fled, but two were caught by police. One of the sus-pects was shot in the leg and later taken to the National Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, while the other was detained by airport police.
Police recovered a switchblade and an 80-centimeter iron bar.
The airport police's Taufik Hidayat said officers in the vicinity had failed to catch the other suspects, after a car chase of more than an hour on the airport toll road.
"We're still looking for them," Taufik said.
Police have not yet given any possible motive for the attack, while Sriwijaya Air corporate communications manager Hannah Simatupang said the airline was similarly confused.
"That's what we're trying to find out," she said.
"But I'm glad nobody was hurt."
After the incident, the Sriwijaya ticket counter was covered up with a white sheet and cordoned off with a police line.
A forensic team was later seen working at the scene.
Airport activities were other-wise unaffected, following the minor commotion caused by the shooting.
Fifty-year-old Jumadi, from Jepara in Central Java, and transiting overnight at the airport before heading to Bitung, North Sulawesi, said he had been sitting about 20 meters from the counter when the incident occurred, but saw very little because he ran away immediately.
"This is the first time I've seen this kind of thing happen," he said.
"It's just like in the movies." (bbs)
