By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, June 3: A hunting trip turned tragic in Dalat after a man was fatally shot by his friend, who mistook him for a wild boar in a palm oil plantation along Jalan Oya-Igan yesterday (June 2).
Dalat District Police Chief DSP Saga Chungat said the incident occurred around 5.15pm during a group hunt involving 13 men, including the victim and the shooter, according to a news report by TVS.
“The suspect, who is also the victim’s friend, claimed he saw a figure resembling a wild boar in the underbrush and fired a single shot using a homemade shotgun (bakakuk),” he said in a statement today.
He added that the shooter was shocked to discover he had actually hit his friend, who was found unconscious and covered in blood.
The group rushed the 57-year-old victim to the Mukah Police Station, but he was believed to have already died either at the scene or en route.
Police at the Oya Station received a report of the incident at about 7.52pm.
“Initial investigations revealed that the suspect admitted to firing the shot, believing the figure he saw was a wild boar. The weapon used was his own bakakuk,” Saga said.
Although the incident occurred within the jurisdiction of the Dalat District Police Headquarters, the group initially went to the Mukah Police Station for help.
The victim’s body has been sent to Mukah Hospital for a post-mortem, while the suspect has been remanded at Dalat Police Station to assist in further investigations. — DayakDaily
