Identity of hostage-taker still a mystery
Published on: Tuesday, January 15, 2019
By: Sherell Jeffrey
KOTA KINABALU: Police have taken DNA samples and fingerprints of the man who held a three-year-old girl hostage at knifepoint for close to five hours before he was shot and killed on Sunday.
The deceased’s handphone was also recovered and sent for further inspections with hopes of tracing his identity.
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State Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah in a media conference at the State police headquarters in Kapayan,
Monday, also revealed that the suspect mentioned the name “Rashid”.
“We are checking all the possibilities, however initial findings showed that even those staying there do not know who Rashid is,” he said.
He also disclosed that a translator was used to communicate with the suspect during the dramatic two-hour standoff with officers at Taman Telipok Ria, as the suspect who communicated in Suluk dialect could speak little Malay.
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No documents were found in his possession. However, his fingerprints will be sent to the National Registration Department for checking if he has any record and if he has any previous convictions.
On the victim’s condition, Omar said the girl is stable and showed signs of recovering, adding that although she sustained serious injuries to her neck, it did not cause any vital damages.
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“While being treated at the Tuaran Hospital, she was able to speak and asked for her mother, before being transferred to the hospital in Likas,” he said.
Omar also refuted suggestions in social media that the suspect was the girl’s father. “The suspect is not related to the girl whom he randomly took as his hostage,” he said.
He said initial information gathered from the girl’s family also showed that they had no connection with the suspect, while the majority of residents in the area claimed that they have never seen the suspect before and neither does he live there.
“The motive has yet to be established, and we urge those with information especially on the suspect’s identity to come forward,” he said.
He also denied claims that the girl’s fingers had been cut off by the suspect, saying “This is not true, I saw all her fingers intact when I visited her at the hospital.”
There were also rumours that the girl might have sustained injuries due to flying shrapnel from the impact of the shots fired.
“The girl had the knife held to her neck thus the injury, for other injuries, we wait for the medical results,” he said.
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Omar also said they will beef up patrol in the area, but urged the people against making assumptions that the neighbourhood is a black area.
“This is the first serious case to have taken place in the area, it wouldn’t be right to generalise those staying there, we cannot assume that only bad people stay there, there are also good people there,” he said. - Sherell Jeffrey