Police in Ho Chi Minh City shot down a man on Thursday night who they say killed five people with an assault rifle in late January.

A source close to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper confirmed that Le Quoc Tuan, 33, a senior lieutenant in the detention unit of the District 11 police bureau, was killed during a standoff with officers at a house in Binh My Commune, Cu Chi District on Thursday night.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers were mobilized to the house, located near the intersection of Vo Van Bich Street with Provincial Highway 15 in Cu Chi, to seal off the area and arrest Tuan.

The man, however, opened fire on police. Authorities exchanged gunfire with Tuan and eventually killed him.

According to the case file, Tuan fatally shot four fellow gamblers and injured another at a gambling ring Cu Chi on the afternoon of January 29.

He escaped on a scooter before switching to a second motorbike he stole from a local resident later the same day.

In the small hours of January 30, Tuan allegedly shot and killed a man named V.C.T. and took his motorcycle.

Following the reports of local residents, the municipal Department of Police, in coordination with the Ministry of Public Security, surrounded an area in Trung An Commune in Cu Chi later the same day, but the suspect was believed to have already fled the location.

An investigation revealed that Tuan had taken VND1 billion (US$43,000) from the gambling ring and given it to Pham Thanh Tam, who turned himself in on February 3.

Police also initiated legal proceedings against Tuan for “murder,” “robbery,” and “illegal possession and use of military weapons.”

They were eventually able to locate the suspect at a house in Binh My Commune, ten kilometers from the first raid, on Thursday night.

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