Teen shooting: Two sides of the same story

MalaysiaKini - The statement by Azamuddin Omar, who was in the car driven by Aminulrasyid Amzah when he was shot dead by police on April 26, has put into dispute the police version of what had transpired.

Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar (left), who told reporters the police side of the story, has described the boy's move to speak to the media as "unethical".

Likewise, the inspector-general of Police Musa Hassan has also deemed it inappropriate.

Malaysiakini compared the police's immediate statement on the day of the shooting with that of several witnesses, including 15-year-old Azamuddin's.

THE CHASE

Police version: Khalid told Utusan Malaysia that two police officers spotted a "suspicious" Proton Iswara at Section 14 of Shah Alam.

He said that the driver of the car ignored the police signal to stop, and sped off instead, upon which the officers gave chase, with the assistance of two other officers in another patrol car.

New Straits Times reported that the police managed to corner the car after beating several red lights.

The panel headed by Deputy Home Minister Abu Seman Yusop yesterday traced back what they claimed to be a 6km car chase from Section 7 to Section 11.

Witness version: At the press conference Azamuddin claimed that they were on the way to restaurant Ali Corner in Section 7 Shah Alam to help a friend whose motorcycle had a flat tyre.

"But on the way they grazed another car, causing Aminulrasyid to panic. He wanted to go back to Section 11 (where the boy lived)," he said.

He added that a few men on motorcycles, presumably friends of the owner of the car they grazed, pursued them.

In his police report lodged the night after the incident, the witness said that one of the motorcyclists attempted to overtake the car near Bulatan Kayangan at Section 12 (see map).

Instead the motorcyclist knocked the back of the Iswara and fell off his machine.

"Aminulrasyid grew more frightened and sped up without caring about our own or the public's safety," he said in the report.

He told reporters that they had "gone around in circles" during the chase.

THE SHOOTING

Police: "When we arrived at the scene of the incident the officers fired at the tyres to force the car to stop. The car then crashed onto the side of the road," Khalid said.

He added that only one officer opened fire and only four shots were discharged, one of which hit Aminulrasyid on the head.

Witness: Yesterday, the police called Azamuddin (right) for the third time and asked him to confirm if the last shot was fired before or after the crash.

"The police pursued us until the Caltex petrol station and started firing," Azamuddin said.

The teenager added that they managed to shoot the tyres of the car at the corner of Jalan Tarian and Jalan Wau, some 500 metres from the deceased's home, causing the vehicle to swerve uncontrollably.

One of the bullets fired hit the 14-year-old driver's head.

"His body fell onto my lap but his foot was still on the accelerator so the car continued to move and we crashed into a wall," he said, causing police to continue shooting.

However, in his police report the Form Three student said: "The last shot I heard hit Aminulrasyid (left) in the head... and I saw there was a hole oozing blood at the back of his head."

When asked by police yesterday, Azamuddin said that the last shot was fired when the car was still moving.

The New Straits Times reported that a source familiar with the case 20 shots were fired but only about 10 bullet casings were found along the alleged 6km chase, with most hitting the bottom of the car.

THE CRASH

Police: "After the crash, (Aminulrasyid)'s friend opened the door of the car and ran off while chased by two patrol officers," said Khalid, of the incident which took place around at 2am.

The other two officers proceeded to inspect the condition of the driver when he attempted to reverse onto them.

"Caught by surprise by the suspect's move to defend himself, the police officers shot in his direction," he told Utusan Malaysia.

Witness: Azamuddin told the Aminulrasyid's family lawyer Karpal Singh that he had climbed out of the back passenger window to surrender after the crash, which took place about 200 metres from Aminulrasyid's home.

"The window was shattered from the crash," he told Karpal, adding that at that point the officers had trained their firearms on him.

"One of them kicked me in the head and they started beating me up," he said, adding that there were about five or six officers involved.

He, however, managed to break free in the struggle and ran in the direction of his home, passing through his school.

Eyewitness Zafrullah Ahmad Zainal Abidin in his police report said: "I rushed out of the house and saw someone running in the opposite direction (from the car crash site) and the police were shouting for the person to stop. I saw two or three policemen in uniform with one holding a gun.

"Then, I saw one of the police cars making a U-turn to pursue the person who was (fleeing) the scene. After that, five or six more police cars arrived and cordoned off the scene," he added.

WEAPONS

Police: Khalid told the New Straits Times that the officers found a long parang in the car, believed to have been used in robberies.

Initial reports of the shooting by the Star also noted that the boy was believed to be a part of a robbery gang.

Witness: In his statement to the police on Sunday, Azamuddin claimed that there was no parang in the car.

The owner of the car, Aminulrasyid's sister Tuty Shaninza Anon Amzah and the boy's brother-in-law, Muzafar Mahali also said that no parang was kept in the family car.

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(A) REVOLUTIONARY LOV(E)

There's a surging feeling within me that I've made a contribution, one that really matters. My life is unique, and no-one else could have made this journey the way I have. The world is full of experiences. There are so many things to tell for those who are willing to read my version of stories and experiences. Some things must be remembered and shared.

Sharing a day breathing in each other scent while getting comfortable with each others skin. Breaking boundaries, exploring thoughts, studying habits, learning love. Planning our next move. Dreaming the future. Weeding through the past. It was a parasitic communicative act of the dire need to devour each other feelings of each epic moments in our lives. Elicit and consume.

Cooking is an essential skill required for vegetarians if we were to get complete satisfaction and nutrient from our meals. We get to choose the vegetables to put in our dishes (for me, color play important part) and mockmeat to compliment the overall texture. Spices and sauces are the key ingredient to entice the taste buds. Most people have false assumptions that vegetarian food are tasteless and bland. If we are willing to experiment with the ingredients, we'll find most of the meals we buy outside are lame and filled with unnecessary flavorings (MSG) and oil. We are raised to consume excessive flavorings especially from manufactured goods so much so that we find raw and fresh food tasteless when we don't get that blast of flavorings in our mouths (because we don't know how to make it so). We find food that are tasty because they actually had been flavored with chicken stock! We neglect the nutrients aspect of our food and we accept overcooked, prepared hours before and left heated throughout the day, fried, oily, over-flavoring dishes as part of our daily energy intake. We forgot how nature provides the goodness of fresh, crunchy and juicy vegetables and fruits ready for us to savor without prejudice.

Given how time consuming and elaborate preparing a meal can get, many people opt to enjoy their food at restaurant. But nothing really quite nurtures the soul of a family as a lovingly prepared home cooked meal, filled with the best intentions. Furthermore, cooking with/for someone you love is enough to add the sweetness on top of every dishes and joy in our bellies. (Rice) and (Stir fried broccoli, Chinese veg, mocklamb in mushroom "oyster" sauce) and (black pepper mockchicken) and (home-made bean sprout) and (carrot soy). There will be more...

That day, we experimented making sweet buns but due to inexperienced us, they got burnt. It was all part of the fun learning process. Baking is a new thing for us. Everything went well except for the oven's setting because we didn't know the appropriate adjustment. The buns turned black but the filling still was edible. Arip gave his friends the buns and they gobbled every last piece of it like starving vultures (even the top black crust!). Freegans!

Destiny is grotesque. If it wasn't we won't have this moment. Details of strange obstructions of us meeting each other at many events puzzled us. For me personally, I felt a greater force is at work. Finding the right moment to meet us. Now that we did, I'm grateful from the depths of my heart.

Meeting the other half is a gift. Falling in love is a revolution.

Our journey continues with burning desire of getting things done. Moving in a new space and recreate hope of a community, nesting new interests for our self and others, most importantly provide shelter for enthusiastic lovers and friends.

More baking, cooking, gardening, bicycle and DIY projects, music making, art, sharing etc.

Now is the time to repair, repaint, fixing, building, construct, and decorate!

(A) space of infinity.

Massa Kritikal

27 May 2010 - Massa Kritikal rides every Friday of the last week in each months. This month's ride was publicized fairly wide that two or three fliers came out to promote the event. I was informed by Arip early on the week of the ride as I did not have internet to get the latest updates. We had planned how I can get a bicycle because my bicycle is still in Hana's house in Shah Alam. Arip was too kind to help me borrow Salleh's spare bike. He even helped me fix the bike to make sure it works fine during the ride. There were some problems with the tire and brake pads. They collide with each other whenever the back tire spins.

The meeting point was at the mamak restaurant at Annexe, Central Market. Arip and I were the first few early birds after Zul, Prop and another dude. Prop was one of the documentors for the event. As cyclist came one after another, the number multiplied from 10 to 30 people, I could already feel the soon to be hypeness of the event's atmosphere. Fellow female cyclists came soon after. There were about 13-15 grrrls that stand out from the "mob". Yes we were the mob rioting out the boring streets populated by fast-moving-smoke-excreting vehicles.

I've missed out most of the previous rides but I'm really glad that I managed to came to this one because we had made herstory. There were 80 cyclists all together making this event the biggest ride ever held. We did not made headlines in the newspapers nor appeared in the 8p.m TV news because that was never the objective. We were aiming to reclaim streets and to wave and greet the people with our smiles. Making our presence known. To inspire and to spark tiny sense of awareness about how fun cycling can be as a form of transportation. Although there were no mission statements on banners that night, the number of cyclists that roamed the streets were enough to give an impactful and bold statement about our stand on fossil fuel.

That night cyclists conquered the roads. That night we blocked engine powered machines that were 4 times the size of bicycles (or more) from going faster than they normally would. We felt the city was ours the few minutes we passed by each buildings, pedestrians, cars, motorcycles, tourists, shopping malls, clubs, houses, restaurants and streetlights. Cars had to wait to get through the mob. Some of them were pissed off at us while some honked for support. Some even pulled down their windows to cheer for us. Some had taken the liberty to ask questions like where we were from and to which group we belonged to out of simple curiosity.

Actually, we had deliberately spread across the street and pedaled slowly to block cars from passing through. I think this was a good strategy as it made them slow down to our humble pace and at the same time share the huge patience we cyclist normally have when we ride our bikes on these dangerous streets. Busses were the usual road bullies. It is because they are big. It is similar to the animal kingdom where smaller creatures often goes below the chain. It was a vicious terror as these mammoth often care less about other road users. Lowered, modified cars with large and loud exhaust pollute the air with smoke and noise. A few did actually forced the cyclists to the side by tailgating them and after they had managed to pass through, they sped off leaving in dissatisfaction and anger as though their clubbing nights were ruined by these mischievous but nice and well aware cyclists.

There was one tall bike that night. It was Roby's white and green tall bike. I've heard this a dozen times... Friends had talked about building tall bikes. We've got space and tools to do this. Now we need to plan to find old or scrap bikes. Emm.. I want to join in to assemble the bikes. Nak blaja welding and make community tall bikes. Weee!

I remember how I felt that night. I was so happy and at the same time excited to be in the mass of bicycle loving people. I've never felt safer cycling on the road than when I'm riding with them. It was so relaxing that I got the chance to tilt my head up to stare at the sky and admire the trees' silhouette the foreground of lighted tall buildings. It was a rare feeling. I can see in the sparkling eyes of fellow cyclists and their glowing drops of sweat on their faces that they were really enjoying themselves. The bond of heartfelt solidarity was strong. We were street kids with a purpose to breed interest and spread our love of these revolutionary vehicle.

Cops did not hassle us that night. Maybe they did not receive complaints from any informed citizen. We were after all harmless cute bicycle kids. Hehe.. I heard someone said that if they were to stop and arrest us, they would not know under which offense to charge us with. We were helping the traffic to be less speedy and more cautious thus preventing accidents on that crazy Friday night. I remember Yuen told me and Hana on the way back from Sg. Tekala the other day that when he was in one of the Sarawak's village, the roads were generally in bad condition. In 10 years there had not been any major accidents because people drove slowly on those bumpy roads but when the government paved the road and made them flat and smooth, accidents occurred almost everyday. Speed kills!

As for the route, I was not sure whether they had pre-planned it or just following some of the usual crew. I'm not active in cyber space of late but I'm pretty sure they had discussed it online and informed people about the route. It was a discentralized event. No leaders only volunteers from the usual Massa kritikal crew who helped with security and traffic. It was necessary because we ran plenty of red lights that night. Haha.. I felt that sense of above the law the few seconds stopping cars from the other road as ours had turned red. Civil disobedience.

ERROR - Alak's chain fell off as we were about to approach Chow kit. A girlfriend cyclist, Ned had fell from her bicycle nearing Brickfields. But all in all, the ride went on without major problems.

Almost everyone had brought their gadgets to capture this herstoric event. This was the time to get every angle of everything. Phone camera works at this time of need. Ekin helped Karen to take video because Karen was sick with a fever. Onie drove Ekin. I think Karen will edit and upload in Facebook like some other people had. Thanks to all who had uploaded, tagged and shared the footage and photos of the event. You're all tots awes!

The last destination was Telawi food court where we had replenish our energy with awesome nasi lemak. We filled two long rows of tables and chairs. Macam kenduri pulak. Our bicycles were parked everywhere.. The place was not full as the usual weekend nights coz it was only Friday night kot. Memang meriah! I read on the Massa Kritikal's blog, someone suggested that the next ride it'll be cooler if we stop at some lake/garden or field and bring our own food to share together. I think that idea is awesome. It'll be interesting to share food made from each participants. I'm thinking soggy sandwiches, cold nasi goreng and dishes, cakes! and drinks. Kena ada panniers. It'll be superb to chill on grass and not have roof on our heads. Only Explosion in The Sky~ Haha. (^_-)

After, a few of us went to Karen's place for the next chillaxing and get together with close friends session. Karen's garden was perfect place to lie down because the plants provided cooling and ambiance feel of the night. It was open air. The neighborhood was quiet. The only thing that made the street visible was the dim orange street lights. It was very romantic as someone told me.... Karen's sofa mattresses from Thailand were the envy of everyone who visited her house. Memang best! It was even better when you have your friends and love ones to share that moment of comfort with you...

Thinking about the moment when we cycled to get to Karen's house, we held hands while riding our bicycles. Arip and I cycled to Shah Alam that night to Hana's house because we have a sewing circle activity together with the Coathangers Revolt geng the next day. We left at 2.30a.m. It was a very...... very........ very...... long ride.......... It was cold... I was tired and sleepy... I think we arrived at Hana's house around 6a.m because we got the chance to catch the sunrise together at the emo lake~ Everything was beautiful. Setiap hati itu dibelengu awan yang menutupi mentari. Apabila hilang awan, bersinarlah ia.