olice fired multiple shots at a car carrying a family of seven in Lubuklinggau, South Sumatra, on Monday, after the driver allegedly refused to pull over and sped up during a traffic operation.
A witness said the car was surrounded by police officers when it stopped near a Bank Mandiri office on Jl. Yos Sudarso after a 2-kilometer car chase.
“The officers who chased them shot at the car twice. We did not know who was inside the car,” local resident Iqbal told kompas.com.
Police, he said, had then asked the driver to get out of the car and were surprised to find that many people were inside the car, including children.
A woman identified as Surini, 55, was killed in the incident. Numerous gunshot wounds were seen on her body. Her children, Diki, 29, Indra, 32, Novianti, 31, and Dewi Arlina, 35, also sustained gunshot wounds.
Surini’s three-year-old grandson, Genta Wicaksono, suffered injuries on his ear, while another child, identified as Galih, 6, was unharmed.
The family was traveling from Blitar village, Rejang Lebong, Bengkulu.
The North Sumatra Police said the driver, Indra, had sped up the vehicle when police officers asked him to pull over during a traffic operation. The car had almost hit the officers and some pedestrians, police said.
A warning shot was reportedly fired during the car chase, but it remains unclear why the officers decided to shoot at the car.
“A team of investigators has been deployed to probe the incident,” North Sumatra Police chief Agung Budi Maryoto said, adding that he would not hesitate to prosecute his men if they were proven guilty. (ary)
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