1996 Timika shooting

Mass shooting in Indonesia

1996 Timika shooting incident

Location| Mozes Kilangin Airport, Timika, Irian Jaya, Indonesia
Date| 15 April 1996
7:00 a.m. (WIT)
Target| Soldiers at Mozes Kilangin Airport

Attack type

| Mass shooting, workplace shooting
Weapons| Assault rifle (Pindad SS1?)
Deaths| 16
Injured| 11
Perpetrator| Second Lieutenant Sanurip

* v
* t
* e

Papua conflict

* Arfai, 1965
* Act of Free Choice, 1969
* Jayapura, 1976
* Mapenduma, 1996
* Timika, 1996
* Biak, 1998
* Wamena, 2003
* Abepura, 2006
* Paniai, 2014
* Mimika, 2017
* Nduga, 2018
* Operation Nemangkawi, 2018
* 2019 protests
* Kiwirok, 2021
* Beoga, 2022
* Nogolait, 2022
* Timika, 2022
* Oksibil, 2023
* Nduga, 2023

The 1996 Timika shooting (Indonesian: Insiden Penembakan Timika 1996) was a mass shooting that took place on 15 April 1996 at the Mozes Kilangin Airport, Timika, Irian Jaya (now Central Papua), Indonesia, by a member of Kopassus Sec. Lt. Sanurip. Sixteen people were killed and eleven others were injured.

## Chronology

[edit]

According to military spokesmen, Sanurip was reprimanded by another officer for being noisy when he awoke in a hangar that was used by the military as a commando post since the riots in Timika had erupted. As a reaction to this Sanurip began firing with his assault rifle at about 7 a.m. He first shot five other military personnel, including Lieutenant Colonel Adel Gustinigo, commander of Detachment 81, the counter-terrorist arm of the Indonesian army's elite special forces, as well as a major and captain, and then shot indiscriminately at anyone, while running out of the hangar.[1][2]

Within seconds he killed 16 people - five Kopassus officers, six ABRI soldiers and five civilians, one of them New Zealander Michael Findlay, a helicopter pilot working for Airfast - and injuring another 13 people, ten ABRI officers and three civilians. Sanurip was ultimately subdued by other soldiers after being shot in the leg.[3][4][5][6]

It is believed that he fired 52 shots in total during his attack on the Airport.[7]

## Motive

[edit]

The motive behind the rampage was not immediately known, though it was suggested that Sanurip was suffering from depression and was not in a healthy state, perhaps due to a malaria infection.[2]

It was further reported that an army transporter, carrying two soldiers killed in Mapenduma, made a fuel stop at Timika airport that morning, and that Sanurip began shooting after seeing their remains and realising that one of them was a friend of his, though it was stated by military spokesmen this information was not true and that there was no connection between the arrival of the bodies and the mass murder.[1][2][8]

Also repudiated were initial reports that there was a heated argument between Sanurip and his superiors prior to the shooting.[9] [10]

## Victims

[edit]

Among those who were killed:[11][12][13]

* Lieutenant Colonel Adel Gustimigo, 37, Detachment 81/Kopassus
* Major Gunawan, Detachment 81/Kopassus
* Captain Djatmiko, 328th Airborne Infantry/Kostrad
* Sergeant Major Yaswanto, Kopassus
* First Sergeant Manasye, Komando Rayon Militer

* Sergeant 2nd class Joko, 752nd Battalion/Kodam VIII/Trikora
* Private Kasiyanto, 752nd Battalion/Kodam VIII/Trikora
* Private Misdiyono, 752nd Battalion/Kodam VIII/Trikora
* Private Mochtar, 752nd Battalion/Kodam VIII/Trikora
* Private Rudy, 752nd Battalion/Kodam VIII/Trikora
* Private Triyono, 752nd Battalion/Kodam VIII/Trikora

* Antonio Budi Afianto, Airfast technician
* Darmanto
* Michael Findlay, Airfast pilot
* Jimmy Watusile
* Unnamed civilian

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Among those wounded was Airfast employee Sarjito.[14]

Two Kopassus and one Kostrad treated in Gatot Subroto Civilian in Pondok Indah Four in Jakarta.[citation needed]

## Aftermath

[edit]

Sanurip was sentenced to death by a military tribunal in Jayapura on 23 April 1997.[15] After the decision was made public, Amnesty International uttered concerns, because the court had rejected evidence regarding Sanurip's mental health.[16]

The Military High Court in Surabaya dismissed his appeal on 18 June 1997, and also discharged him from the Indonesian Armed Forces and ordered him to pay a nominal court fee, whereupon he lodged an appeal to the Indonesian Supreme Court.[17]

He later died in a hospital.[18]

A military tribunal has sentenced to death a soldier who went on a shooting rampage in which he killed 16 people in Irian Jaya last year.

A military tribunal rejected the defence that Second Lieutenant Sanurip was suffering from malaria-induced depression

The shooting is currently the deadliest workplace shooting in modern history.

## See also

[edit]

* Papua conflict

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Musibah di Timika Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Kompas (16 April 1996)
2. ^ a b c ABRI Officer Kills 15 in Timika Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Kompas (17 April 1996)
3. ^ "14 die in gun battle at New Guinea airport". San Francisco Chronicle. 15 April 1996. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
4. ^ "Soldier kills 14 in Indonesian airport". The Independent. 16 April 1996. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
5. ^ "16 people killed in Indonesian shooting". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 15 April 1996. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
6. ^ "15 killed, 12 injured in gun attack". The Irish Times. 16 April 1996. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
7. ^ "Letda Sanurip Tembaki Fellow Kopassus For Canceling A Mission In History Today, April 15 1996". VOI - Waktunya Merevolusi Pemberitaan. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
8. ^ "Jarkarta probes killing of 15 in Irian Jaya". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. 17 April 1996. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
9. ^ 14 shot dead as Indonesian officer runs amok, The Australian (16 April 1996)
10. ^ Jakarta names NZ pilot killed in shooting Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Australian (17 April 1996)
11. ^ Six Victims of Timika Shooting Buried in Sorong Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Indonesia Media Network (17 April 1996)
12. ^ Kopassus Berkabung, Bendera Setengah Tiang Berkibar di Tengah Republika (18 April 1997)
13. ^ Anggota ABRI Yang Tewas Dimakamkan di Irian Jaya Archived 4 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Kompas (17 April 1996)
14. ^ Penembak di Timika, Kemungkinan Pelaku Sudah Dibawa Ke Jakarta Republika (18 April 1996)
15. ^ "Pena de muerte". Amnesty International. 25 April 1997. Retrieved 24 December 2012.[permanent dead link]
16. ^ Death penalty, Amnesty International (25 April 1997)
17. ^ Death Penalty Appeal in Timika Case Archived 17 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Amnesty International (18 September 1997)
18. ^ "Awaiting Death". Tempo. 8 December 2003. p. 33.

## External links

[edit]

* GATRA - Setelah Kata-kata Tidak Berdaya (25 May 1996)
* ALMARHUM LETKOL ADEL IKUT NAIK PANGKAT (30 May 1996)
* Pelaku Musibah Timika akan Segera Disidangkan (9 November 1996)
* "MASIH DIGUNAKANNYA HUKUMAN MATI" (14 May 1997)
* FAKSI SIAPA YANG MENEMBAK YUN HAP? (28 September 1999)
* ABRI Officer Rages in Timika, Kills 14 People
* Special Team Reports Timika Findings to President
* Hostage Liberation TAPOL Version
* Riot shuts down world's largest gold mine
* Soldier to face firing squad in Indonesia
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