Ex-husband charged after salon owner is shot and pistol-whipped in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
NEWS:
A 22-year-old salon owner in Phnom Penh was killed after a man identified by police as her former husband entered her business, shot her with a handgun and chased her into a nearby barbershop, where surveillance footage shows him beating her with the weapon.
The attack happened on April 12, 2026, at Tuol Pongro market in Sangkat Chaom Chau I, Por Senchey district, Phnom Penh. The woman was later identified as Chun Teu, the owner of the Ma Mi salon. Police and local reports identified the suspect as Thuok Chea, also reported as Thuok Chi, 39.
The first reports from the scene said a woman had been shot inside a hair salon at around 3 p.m. and had been left seriously wounded in a pool of blood. At that stage, her identity had not yet been confirmed publicly, and early accounts only said the shooter may have been her husband. Later reporting identified the victim, the suspect and their former relationship.
Surveillance footage described in local reports shows the man entering the Ma Mi salon wearing a yellow T-shirt, gray long pants and white sandals. The footage shows him carrying a handgun and firing one shot at the woman inside the salon. After being shot, she ran out of the salon and crossed into a barbershop located opposite the business, apparently trying to escape and seek help.
The same footage shows the armed man running after her at close range. Inside the barbershop, he knocked her down and struck her repeatedly in the head with the handgun. Local reports said the attack left the woman lying in blood before the man fled the scene with the weapon.
A later forensic account cited by local media said the woman had one gunshot wound that entered through the right cheek and exited near the left side of the neck. The same account said she had multiple head injuries caused by blunt-force blows, including skull fractures. She was taken to Preah Kossamak Hospital and was reported dead at about 7 p.m. the same day.
The early timeline differed in some reports. Some initial coverage described the victim as having been shot dead at the scene, while later reports said she was critically wounded at the market and died after being taken to the hospital. Because the later account included the hospital time and forensic findings, this article uses that sequence.
Police later arrested the suspect on April 15 in a forested area of Prey Chhor district, Kampong Cham province. Reports said criminal police from Phnom Penh and local police in Por Senchey worked with Kampong Cham provincial police to track him down after he fled the capital.
After the arrest, the suspect was sent to the Phnom Penh Municipal Police criminal office for legal processing. He was then sent to court. Later court coverage said an investigating judge at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court ordered him held in pretrial detention on April 17.
The court accusation cited in local reporting included premeditated murder and unauthorized use or possession of a firearm. The premeditated murder charge was reported under Article 200 of Cambodia’s Criminal Code, which carries a life sentence if convicted. The weapons offense was reported under Article 490, which carries additional prison time and a fine.
Police-linked reporting said the former couple had separated about one month before the killing after problems in the relationship. One later account described the attack as connected to resentment after the separation. The precise motive has not been established in the material reviewed, so the motive should be treated as an allegation or investigative finding rather than a fact independently proven by the video.
What the video directly shows is the violent act itself: the man entering the salon with a handgun, firing at the woman, pursuing her across to another shop and beating her with the weapon after she fell. The video does not, by itself, prove the relationship history, motive or legal charge. Those details come from police and court-linked reporting after the attack.
The case moved from an initial unknown-gunman report to an identified domestic killing investigation within days. By April 19, local coverage said the suspect was in pretrial detention and facing charges that could lead to life imprisonment if the court convicts him.
News story written by DarkGore.
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