Man Arrested For Shooting Bali Woman Pleads Guilty

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Badung Police have arrested 24-year-old Firdaus Abby after he confessed to shooting a local woman in the face with an air rifle. Abby claims to have been aiming to shoot at a crane when he drastically missed and accidentally Ni Luh Putu Sukma Lusiana Putri, 32, while she was riding her moped.  

Abby was arrested at a villa on Jalan Dewi Sri in Legian. He was found in possession of a 4.5mm caliber air rifle and a bag of 23 pellets. Police also located the car that was noted in Putri’s witness statement at the villa.

Badung Police Chief AKBP Leo Dedy Defretes led a press conference on Monday afternoon. He shared that the arrest happened within 24 hours of Putri alerting the police to the situation. Defretes confirmed that when police raided Abby’s property that he did not protest and confessed to his actions right away. 

Abby is believed to be born Cianjur in West Java and has been living in Bali for a significant amount of time. Police shared irregularities in Abby’s confession that are still under investigation. The air rifle appears to be different from the gun that appeared in a viral video supposedly of the incident.

What’s more, the police ran checks on the white Lexus parked on Abby’s driveway, that also appeared in the now removed viral video. They discovered that the vehicle had fake license plates. They confirmed that the fake plates are actually registered to Jeep in Jakarta and that Abby has used fake plates cover the fact that his licenses had expired. 

AKBP Defretes said ‘Regarding weapons, the perpetrator admitted that he came to the scene of the crime scene carrying two weapons. Well, the weapon used to shoot the victim was an air rifle that we secured. Meanwhile, the reason for using a fake plate was to avoid getting a police ticket, because the original plate was dead’.

AKBP Defretes went on to explain at Abby had told investigators that he did not intend to shoot Putri, that he was aiming for a crane that was standing in a nearby rice field. He described that as he was aiming at the bird from inside his car, Putri’s moped pulled out in front of him and the bullet hit the left side of her helmet.

The pellet shattered the helmet’s visor and hit Putri’s face. AKBP Defretes said ‘Aware that the bullet that was fired hit the victim’s face, the perpetrator Abby got out of the car. At that time, Abby admitted to handing over Rp. 650,000 for the victim for treatment. After that, he and his friend left the scene of the crime scene. Meanwhile, the victim came to the Badung Police Station to make a report’. 

Ni Luh Putu Sukma Lusiana Putri was taken to the hospital to have the wound checked out. Fortunately, the damage was superficial and she will not be left with a scar; the helmet and the visor took the worse of the impact.

AKBP Defretes said ‘The victim’s condition is now healthy. Meanwhile, the perpetrators are suspected of violating many articles, such as traffic violations, persecution, and illegal possession of weapons’. 

The Badung Police did not share information about where or how Abby acquired the air rifle. On 1st January 2021, an air rifle store in Denpasar was robbed of almost all its stock. It was speculated at the time that the perpetrator had sold many of the air rifles to cover daily living costs. On 25th May 2022, Bali Police were finally able to identify and arrested the thief, Umaro Marok. 

Marok has been charged with robbery and faces up to 7-years in prison. Badung Police alluded to a discrepancy in Abby’s story about the air rifles but did not share any further insights as to whether they suspect the air rifle is connected to Marok’s arrest.