BUKIT MERTAJAM (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Police have gunned down a 40-year-old suspect, hours after the suspect shot dead a man outside an entertainment outlet in Taman Mutiara.

Penang police chief Senior Deputy Comm Datuk Wira Abdul Rahim Hanafi said on Thursday that the victim, a 30-year-old man, was shot five times by the suspect in the 2.30am incident.

"Police quickly arrived at the scene and initiated on an investigation, and managed to track the suspect.

"At 4.30am police surrounded an oil depot nearby where the suspect was hiding and the suspect had fired several shots at police from a semi-automatic handgun.

"Police returned fire and shot dead the suspect.

"Initial investigations revealed that the suspect and his victim both had previous criminal records and police are still investigating on the motive of the murder," Abdul Rahim told reporters at the oil depot.

Both bodies have been sent to Seberang Jaya hospital for post-mortem.