Suspect in hostage-taking sought revenge against father of students: police

A man who was looking for revenge against his former employee spearheaded the hostage-taking at an international school in northwestern Cambodia, police said Friday.

The 23-year-old man allegedly told police the raid, that resulted in a Canadian boy being shot to death in the head, was initially in retaliation against a South Korean man who employed him to drive his two children to the Siem Reap International School, said Prak Chanthoeun, deputy commander of military police in Siem Reap province.

The suspect said he recently quit his job after his employer got angry with him and slapped his face, Chanthoeun said.

"Every day, he thought about taking revenge against the South Koreans. So he bought a pistol, then called three friends from his home area," said Chanthoeun. He then "proposed that they go to the school, find the two Korean children and kill them. But when they arrived there, they didn't see the Korean children," he said.

Four gunmen stormed the school Thursday morning, taking around 30 children and a teacher hostage during the six-hour standoff.

Police said the men, all in their early 20s, also wanted to extort money from the foreigners and well-off Cambodians whose children attend the school, located in the popular tourist spot of Siem Reap, near the Angkor temples.

The government was also investigating whether the attackers may have had political motives.

The ringleader shot two-year-old Maxim Michalik, born in Victoria, soon after the raid began because he was making too much noise, Chanthoeun said.

He quoted the suspect as saying: "I needed money as soon as possible so I shot this boy and also because this kid was crying a lot, more than the other kids."

The gunmen had demanded money, six AK-47 rifles, six shotguns, grenade launchers, hand grenades and a vehicle.

Authorities agreed to some of the gunmen's demands, handing over $30,000 US and a van.

When the gunmen tried to escape with four children in the van, police rushed the vehicle, smashing its windows and taking the children.