AMERICAN engineer Brian Earl Miller, who was shot in the chest when he went to the aid of an elderly woman struggling with a snatch thief, is in stable condition at University Malaya Medical Centre.

At 1.30pm yesterday Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department chief SAC II Datuk Ku Chin Wah visited Miller and his family at the hospital.

“He was shot in the left side of his chest and is in stable condition,” he said.

Police will allow Miller a few days rest before taking his statement.

On Saturday afternoon, the 42-year old engineer who has been working in Malaysia for the past five years, went to the aid of a 70-year-old woman whom he saw struggling with a snatch thief trying to wrest her handbag at Plaza Mont Kiara.

During the scuffle, the snatch thief took out a pistol and fired at the engineer, hitting him in the chest. The man then fled the scene on a motorcycle.

Police found a 9mm bullet casing at the scene and are currently studying CCTV footage of the car- park in an attempt to identify the snatch thief.

Members of Miller’s family who were at the hospital refused to talk to the media.

It is learnt that Miller, who hails from Ohio in the United States, works as a petroleum engineer for Baker Hughes Malaysia Sdn Bhd at Menara Tan & Tan in Jalan Tun Razak.