Two men and two women, including a man accused of shooting and injuring two people during armed robberies at petrol stations in Fanga and Veitongo on Tongatapu early this morning, were arrested by Tonga Police.

A security guard who was shot on the arm has been treated and released from Vaiola Hospital. Another man, a station attendant who was shot four times, is in a stable condition at the hospital.

Acting Chief Superintendent Siosifa Latu of Central Police said quick police work and great effort from the public saw the arrest of the four suspects aged 18-35 years old, only an hour after the shootings.

He said at around 3:00am, a man disguised in a mask approached the Konifelenisi Trading Ltd. petrol station at Fanga, and open fired into the building.

Armed with a .22 semi-automatic rifle, the shooter demanded cash before fleeing the scene in a stolen vehicle that was parked at the station.

The male security guard at the petrol station sustained gunshot wound to his left arm. He was treated for his injury and was released from the hospital.

The Acting Chief Superintendent said that later at around 4:00am, the same disguised shooter, approached the Luna’eva Petrol Station in Veitongo.

He was armed with the same rifle and demanded cash from the 31-year-old male station attendant.

“The suspect and the station attendant got into a fight, where the suspect shot the station attendant four times, before fleeing the scene leaving behind the firearm as well as his disguise.”

The station attendant who was shot twice in the stomach and twice on the thigh is in a stable condition at the hospital, he said.

Police, who arrested the four suspects from Sopu, have also secured the firearm used in the two shootings.

Shooting

Meanwhile, Sanaila Kaufusi, the General Manager at the Konifelenisi station told Matangi Tonga this afternoon that "Sau" was the security guard who was shot in the arm by the shooter.

He said no cash was taken.

"Two shots were fired at the station building from outside by the shooter. The security guard and our station attendants ran inside a room situated at the front of our building and locked the door, when the shooter was demanding cash outside," he said.

"He shot a window on the side of the station before shooting through the main window of the room that these people were in. This is when the security guard got shot because he was shielding himself using his arm inside the room.

"I was told that the shooter then used the tip of his rifle to break the glass on the front door of this locked room. Fortunately, police sirens could be heard and the shooter fled the station in a stolen vehicle parked at the station's parking lot. This vehicle has apparently been set on fire by the robbers at Fahefa," he said.