A Cambodian officer has been arrested for shooting dead a Vietnamese citizen in a border town located in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang.

Lai Buon Thi, deputy chief of the Border Guard Office in Ta Keo Province, Cambodia, turned himself in to Vietnamese police officers at around 5:00 am on Sunday after hours of resistance inside his house in Vietnam.

Thi was having a drink with some of his Vietnamese friends in Tinh Bien Town, An Giang Province, at 8:00 pm on Saturday when a row broke out, resulting in the Cambodian killing a Vietnamese man and injuring another with his gun.

Le Van Duoc, 38, was killed after a headshot while another local named Quang suffered severe injury to his jaw.

Thi returned to his residence nearby following the fatal confrontation and tried to defend himself as Vietnamese forces arrived and tried to convince the man to turn himself in.

According to officers, the suspect lives and works in Cambodia but he has a house and runs a small business in the Vietnamese locality.

Officers carry out a search of the house of Lai Buon Thi on July 17, 2016. Photo: Tuoi Tre    

After Thi was detained, police carried out a search of the suspect’s home and confiscated two guns, Colonel Le Van Tien, deputy director of the An Giang Department of Police, said, adding that the murder weapon has not been revealed.

“Crime scene investigation and post-mortem examinations will be conducted within Sunday. Initial probes showed that the incident stemmed from personal conflict,” Col. Tien stated.

According to Xia, a 64-year-old merchant in the border area, the Cambodian officer tended to use guns to intimidate others when he was drunk.

“I know him too well. He always uses his gun to threaten somebody whenever he gets drunk,” Xia explained.

The trader added that Thi’s wife was once chased and threatened with a gun by the suspect.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Van Re, Quang’s father-in-law, asserted that no one has had any hostility toward the victim.

“I was terrified after hearing the news. Quang has been transferred to a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City,” Re added.

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