Gunfight

The 85-year-old woman from Suau, Milne Bay Province, was inside a house when she was hit by a stray bullet and taken to the hospital at around 5.30pm yesterday.

According to police, the gunfight, which lasted for over 30 minutes, erupted after criminals ambushed a police patrol at Garuboi within the precincts of Alotau town.

A policeman in Alotau said the suspects were positioned at a vantage point atop a hill and they used high powered weapons to attack the policemen.

The suspects had been involved in an armed robbery of an Asian shop owner at Downtown Lae around 9am yesterday (April 2).

The suspects were intercepted by a traffic police unit when they tried to escape in a Sedan.

The unit was in the area and was alerted by gun shots fired by the suspects, who wounded the Chinese national and a security guard.

Lae metropolitan superintendent, Commander Anthony Wagambie Junior, said the traffic police promptly contacted all units, who then blocked off possible escape routes.