JOHOR BARU: Three armed criminals were killed in a shoot out with police near a traffic light intersection in Jalan Permas Utara, here this evening.
In the 5.45pm incident, policemen gave chase to the suspects, aged between 22 and 25 before there was an exchange of fire that occurred during rush hour traffic.
Johor police chief Datuk Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd said except for the three dead men, nobody else was hurt in the shoot out.
Police are sweeping the crime scene for evidence.
Bullet casings were scattered on the road.
"A police team noticed something amiss with the three men, who were in a Toyota Camry.
The police followed the suspects from Jalan Permas 1 and a chase ensued when the suspects attempted to flee," he said when met at the scene.
He said the three men were cornered after a 4km car chase.
Police asked the three suspects to step out of their car, but two of the suspects armed with semi-automatic handguns fired shots towards the police.
"There was an exchange of fire which led to two of the suspects being shot dead.
The third suspect died on the way to the hospital," he said.
Wan Ahmad said initial investigations revealed that the armed suspects were believed to be robbers targetting a cash-in-transit opportunity, such as delivery vehicles exiting banks with bags of money or personnel doing their rounds to replenish Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).