A man shot dead his ex-wife before turning the gun on himself at a 16th floor office at Menara Centara on Jalan Chow Kit in Kuala Lumpur today.

City CID chief SAC Rusdi Mohd Isa said police were notified about the 3.15pm incident by members of the public.

He said the man, aged 51, had gone to meet his 46-year-old former wife who was an employee of a law firm there.

"The suspect then went into the office of his ex-wife and a heated argument took place before he fired three shots at the her. Two hit her in the back and the third in her right thigh.

"The suspect then shot himself in the head," Rusdi told reporters at the scene.

He said preliminary investigations found that the suspect, who was also carrying a knife, had arrived at the scene at 2.50pm.

Rusdi said there were 20 other employees at the premises when the incident took place, but none of them were hurt.

"Based on preliminary findings, the suspect and victim had divorced five years ago and have three children, aged 16 to 24.

"Before this, the suspect had harrased his ex-wife and she had lodged a police repprt to the effect," he said.

Asked on the motive, Rusdi police had yet to establish what led to the suspect to resort to murder-suicide.

Meanwhile, a witness, Mohd Rafiq Mohd Shahril, 37, who works as a clerk at an office on the 7th floor of the building, said he thought the shots were firecrackers going off as it was still the Chinese New Year festive period.

"I was at my desk when I heard sounds like firecrackers going off. I was curious and went out to look.

"However, I was wrong, a friend told me that there had been a shooting on the 16th floor. Moments later, the building's security guards asked us to vacate the building," Mohd Rafiq said.

- Bernama