KUALA LUMPUR: Residents of Aman Dua Apartment were left terrified after a foreign man went on a rampage, chasing people and forcing neighbours to lock themselves inside their homes.
Muhammad Aidil Roslan, 26, said he witnessed the incident from his third-floor apartment, which faces the suspect’s unit.
The furniture maker, who has lived at the apartment for a year, said the suspect had been behaving unusually in the two weeks leading up to the incident.
“For the past two weeks, he had frequently argued with his housemate. We could hear him shouting and making a lot of noise,” he said when met at the apartment.
Aidil said the situation became particularly frightening when the man began chasing anyone who crossed his path.
“When he came towards my house, I immediately went inside and locked the door because I was afraid he would come after me.”
He also saw a woman leaving the suspect’s unit bleeding, after which the man appeared to be alone.
Aidil said the incident was particularly shocking as the apartment complex had generally been peaceful.
“Seeing what happened to the policemen was frightening and heartbreaking. They were just carrying out their duties, and suddenly something like this happened,” he said.
A policeman’s hand was severed during the attack.
Another resident, Tan, 58, who has lived at the apartment for more than 25 years, described the suspect as someone who had previously been pleasant and regularly greeted his neighbours.
“He was usually a pleasant man. Whenever we crossed paths, he would greet me. It was only a month ago that his behaviour started changing,” he said.
Tan said the suspect’s friends had visited the apartment because they were concerned about his behaviour and had contacted the police for help.
He said the man later attacked a police officer with a parang before returning to his unit to change his clothes.
“He then made his way downstairs and began targeting any policeman he saw. He also damaged a police car with the parang he was holding,” he said.
Tan said the suspect eventually left the apartment compound and went to a nearby mini-mart before he was shot dead.
Despite the incident, Tan cautioned against blaming the wider foreign community living at the apartment.
He said African nationals made up about five per cent of the residents and had generally lived peacefully alongside locals.
“This was an isolated incident. We should not label all foreigners as bad because of what one person did.
“They are usually unproblematic. I have lived here for more than 25 years, and something like this should not change how we view the entire community,” he said.
Aidil also described the incident as the first of its kind he had witnessed at the apartment.
However, he hoped the authorities would strengthen checks on foreigners who misused immigration documents or remained in the country unlawfully.