KUALA LUMPUR: When 67-year-old Nizam Zakaria* (not his real name) started his training with the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) 25 years ago, he never knew that his training would serve him in good stead – until he shot dead a robber.

Nizam, a security guard at the mall, gunned down a 30-year-old suspect who was robbing a money changer with three of his accomplices at a shopping mall in Taman Maluri yesterday morning.

Recalling the five-minute drama, the father-of-six said he was determined to stop the robbers from fleeing with their loot.

“I am a security guard and I am paid to act when there is a robbery. I understand the consequences, but it’s a risk that I have to take in order to carry out my duty.

“At the time of the incident, someone told me that the money changer’s shop, which is located near the entrance, was broken into by four men. I headed there to help,” he said when met at the scene.

Nizam said he was forced to fire at the robbers to ensure everyone’s safety.

“I needed to act quick. I did not want the robbers to start harming the public so I made the decision to shoot from about 20m away.

“Also, I saw one of them attempting to reach for a weapon that looked like a gun.

“It was either I fired or got shot by them.

“I tried to stop the other three suspects, but could not,” he said.

Nizam, who has been working as a security guard since 1995, represented the Kedah state in an M16 shooting competition several years ago and won first place.

In the 11am incident, four men in full face helmets rammed their car into a money changer’s outlet located near the entrance of the shopping mall.

City CID chief Senior Asst Comm Zainuddin Ahmad said the men, two armed with parang, then threatened the money changer before escaping with an undisclosed amount of money.

“As the suspects attempted to run away, the security guard, who saw the incident, opened fire, hitting one robber in the chest. The robber died at the scene.

“Seeing that their accomplice had been hit, the three others fled the scene,” he said.

He said two of them fled on a motorcycle which was parked near the exit while the other ran away.

“We believe the suspects planned the heist as there was a getaway vehicle nearby,” he said, adding that the car was reported missing in Jinjang last year.

Checks by the police revealed that the dead suspect had a previous conviction involving a car theft.