One Freeport McMoRan employee was injured during one of two shooting incidents near the US mining giant’s Grasberg mine in Timika, Papua, police said on Wednesday.
“This afternoon, there were two shootings in Timika,” National Police spokesman Saud Usman said.
“The first one occurred on Mile 51 — there was shooting directed toward security officers of Freeport’s mine. There were no victim in this shooting, the only damage was to the body of the car [they were in].”
The second shooting occurred at Mile 57, Saud said, when an unknown assailant fired on a Freeport-owned vehicle. An employee riding in a trailer behind the vehicle was wounded in the attack.
“An employee of Freeport was shot and wounded in his neck as [the bullet] went through his helmet,” Saud said. “He is hospitalized in Tembagapura hospital.”
Saud said that police had no leads thus far.
“The evidence is also limited as we could only get the projectile from the body of the victim and the cars,” he said. “There is no other [evidence].”
There have been several shootings near the Freeport mine area recently as a contentious strike between miners and the company has entered its third month with no sign of resolution in sight.