A gunman who fired some 50 bullets at police officers in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on Wednesday morning is a policeman and a conflict with his girlfriend led to his defiance, local police said.

The suspect has been identified as Tong Hoang Phuc, 21, who is a sergeant at the PC65 police unit of the Can Tho Police Department. Phuc is in charge of protecting the VN2 radio station in Co Do District.

According to investigators, Tong Hoang Phuc took an AK assault rifle and arranged a rendezvous with his girlfriend at Karaoke Hotel 555 in O Mon District on Tuesday evening but she did not come.

Early on Wednesday, Phuc asked a hotel staff member to bring food to his room. He then held the hotel employee hostage for one hour after the latter found the gun in Phuc’s room.  

Two other hotel staff came to the room to look for their colleague when Phuc opened fire on them. The two staffers fortunately dodged the bullets, fled away, and reported to local police.

Police officers rushed to the scene at some 3:00 am when the suspect was standing on the sixth floor. Phuc requested that police stop entering the hotel before the man fired at police officers, causing them to take shelter.

He demanded that police ask a female driver to take his girlfriend to the hotel on a petroleum tanker. But his request was denied.

Can Tho City police later deployed more than 100 officers to surround the place but the gunman continued shooting at the police.

After that, Phuc asked for a meeting with his parents and police agreed to his request. While Phuc was talking to his relatives, police forces were divided into smaller teams to approach him and captured the armed man at 6:30 am.

After seizing from him an AK assault rifle and three cartridge-clips, local police examined the scene and confiscated a lot of cartridge cases. They confirmed that Phuc fired about 50 shots at police officers.

Phuc will be expelled from the police ranks and will await charges in accordance with Vietnamese laws, Can Tho police said.

The hotel where the gunfire took place is located at number 9 National Highway 91, Chau Van Liem Ward, O Mon District.

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