Malaysia has tightened policing of its borders and will review security protocols at the country’s biggest airport after a shooting in the arrivals hall injured one person and set the country on edge.
The suspect fired two shots at Kuala Lumpur International Airport at about 1.30am on Sunday, according to local police. Law enforcement is undertaking a manhunt for the suspect, who had fled in the direction of a parking garage, local media reported.
The incident is of personal nature and not linked to terrorism, Selangor Police Chief Hussein Omar Khan said in a statement. Police has classified the case as attempted murder.
Local media reported that police has identified the suspect as Hafizul Harawi, who has had prior brushes with the law. He showed up at the arrival hall of KLIA Terminal 1 intending to kill his estranged wife, Farah Md Isa, who was waiting for returnees from religious pilgrimage, according to the police and news reports. The woman owns a travel agency, local media reported.
One of the shots that Hafizul fired hit a local man whom the wife had hired as her bodyguard, police said. The matter played out on the weekend following the Eid holiday, a time when legions of Malaysians travel.
Hafizul and Farah were in the process of divorcing, local media reported. Two reports alleging he’d engaged in criminal intimidation had previously been lodged with authorities, police representatives told the Star newspaper on Sunday. They also said police along Malaysia’s borders had been put on high alert and that airport security would be reviewed, the paper reported.