Residents at Namatanai, in New Ireland Province, assisted police in capturing armed suspects when they tried to escape after robbing a shop.
New Ireland police reported that on Saturday, March 30th, at about 2.12pm, seven armed suspects entered Garden Enterprise Ltd, pretending to be customers.
Whilst inside the shop, they took two grass knives and a bush knife from the shelf, while they were already armed with two homemade pop guns and a factory-made pistol.
They held up the shopkeepers and took three feature phones, 10 smart phones, a boom box and K100 from a cash register.
“As they were running towards Salimun village, Namatanai town commuters chased them,” reported Namatanai police.
“One of the suspects, who was armed with a pistol, fired 4 rounds into the crowd, injuring two members of the public.”
While the injured civilians were rushed to the hospital, the chase continued towards Salimun village, where the public apprehended three of the suspects.
Meantime, police seized one of the suspects, who was armed with a new grass knife, at Salimun beach.
“Police also picked up the three other suspects from the public and secured the two homemade pistols.
“Police pursued the three remaining suspects with the stolen properties and the factory-made firearm but had to withdraw as it was getting dark.
“The identities of the three suspects are known and investigation will continue.
“Four suspects have been apprehended and badly dealt with by the public and are unable to talk.”