Rural school teacher runs amok

KUDAT: Fourteen primary school teachers, including two women, hid for more than 11 hours in a swamp as their colleague ran amok in Pulau Banggi off here.
The SK Sabur teachers were asleep in their quarters when they were awakened by their colleague who was shouting and threatening them with a sword around midnight on Tuesday.

They came out of hiding around noon the same day after police detained the 30-year-old suspect not far from where the school and its quarters are located.

District police chief Deputy Superintendent Dawi Ossen yesterday said a sword was also seized from the suspect, who was calm when he was apprehended.
To reach the school, police had to deploy a helicopter and a boat, Dawi said, adding that bad weather also delayed their response.

One of the teachers, who declined to be named, said the suspect had acted strangely several days earlier and was aggressive towards others.

There are 18 teachers based at the school, which has 190 pupils. It is located within Pulau Banggi, but it takes more than an hour to reach from the main town of Karakit.

From here to Karakit, about 40km away, it takes 90 minutes to reach by ferry. Pulau Banggi is also the biggest island in the country at 432sq km.

NST, 2011/01/20