KUALA LUMPUR: Tareem Islah Taraz put his life on the line when he rushed into the convenience store of a petrol station upon seeing a man pointing a gun at two of his colleagues there.
“I tried to tackle him from behind but I was shot at while trying to do so.
“The pain was excruciating but I knew I had to do something before my friends and customers were harmed.”
“I’m glad he’s been caught. I did what I thought was the right thing to do,” he said when met at his hospital bed at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital yesterday.
The drama began on Sunday evening when the armed man demanded for cash from the two workers at the petrol station in Jalan Genting Klang, Setapak.
Tareem, 23, who was at the petrol pump area, rushed inside the convenience store and ambushed the culprit from the back.
A scuffle ensued which resulted in three shots being fired with one hitting Tareem on the left side of his waist.
Acknowledging that he was still traumatised by the incident, Tareem said:“I fear that they may come back for me. But my boss and friends have been very supportive. It’s not easy to find a good working environment with a good superior.”
Wangsa Maju OCPD Supt Mohamad Roy Suhaimi Sarif said a 32-year-old unemployed man was arrested minutes after the incident with the help of passers-by.
“He fractured his left leg during the scuffle and is now warded at HKL,” he told a press conference yesterday.
He said prior to the shooting, the gunman had grabbed a container with RM350 after the staff refused to hand over the cash.
Supt Mohamad Roy said the suspect claimed that the gun was lent to him by a friend.
“That led us to the arrest of another 32-year-old man near a 24-hour convenience shop in Setapak that same night.”
Police seized a silver revolver, three bullet slugs, a live bullet and a motorcycle.
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