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olice are still investigating Tuesday’s fatal shooting of a car carrying a family of eight that tried to escape a routine traffic stop in Lubuklinggau, South Sumatra.

The deadly 2-kilometer chase ended with one of the eight people in the car killed and five others injured.

The incident has sparked concern about police professionalism and whether the officers who chased and shot at the family breached standard operating procedures.

Although the traffic stop reportedly fulfilled all the requirements of an official traffic patrol stop, the shootings seem to have displayed an excessive use of force on the part of the police.

Article 265 of Law No. 22/2009 on traffic stipulates that to inspect a vehicle, police must first stop the vehicle, ask for an explanation from those in the car or the driver, and then conduct other actions in accordance with the law.

Josias Simon, a criminologist from the University of Indonesia, expressed regret at the police’s hasty decision to fire at the car.

“Even if they violated the traffic rules, the police should not have shot at them. What they did was a mere traffic violation, not a criminal act,” Josias told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. What the police did might have breached standard operating procedures, he said.

The police are only allowed to use their weapons when a suspect threatens the life of a police officer or those in the surrounding area. Josias regretted that the shooting happened in public and involved unarmed civilians. Josias claims the police had no strong evidence that the people in the car were criminals or terrorists.

According to Article 48B of National Police Chief Decree No. 8/2009, before using their weapons, police officers are obliged to mention their name, give a clear warning to suspects so that they can halt their disruptive behavior and give them enough time to obey the warning.

The internal affairs division in Palembang, South Sumatra, is investigating the 11 police officers involved in the incident, five of whom were allegedly involved in chasing down and shooting at the car.

Brig. K, the officer who shot at the car, reportedly fired seven bullets from his SS1-V2 rifle, three warning shots and four aimed directly at the car.

The bullets killed Surini, 54, with three gunshots to her chest, and wounded five members of her family including two of her grandchildren aged 2 and 6. When the incident happened, the family and their driver were traveling from Blitar village in Rejang Lebong regency, Bengkulu province, to Musi Rawas regency to attend a wedding party.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Rikwanto said there were indications that the police officers did not follow the 2009 decree, noting that the officers did not issue any warning before opening fire. (hol)