Government has strongly condemned the killing of an innocent man in Solwezi yesterday by a named police officer for a traffic suspected offence as he tried to escape from lawful custody.
Northwestern province Deputy Permanent secretary Douglas Ngimbu said the shooting of the Christopher Mashawu by the named officer whose name has been withheld for security purposes was unfortunate as he only committed a traffic offence.
Mr. Ngimbu however, has urged the police to come to the root cause of the shootings by police officers that have happened in the past two weeks.
Meanwhile, North-western province Commissioner of Police Hudson Namachila has strongly cautioned police officers under his command against discharging firearms carelessly.
Mr. Namachila said police officers must strictly observe the most minimum of the rules of engagement in order to fulfill the mandate of protecting life and property.
He said even the life of criminals must be protected and subjected to the criminal justice system through the competent courts of law.
After the deceased suspect was apprehended at Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) he was taken to the police station by the named officer accompanied by two RTSA officers but upon reaching the station, the suspect decided to ran away.
It was then that the police officer discharged a firearm, an AK 47 rifle, twice with an intention to stop the suspect but unfortunately one bullet hit the suspect on the right side of his chest.
The victim was then rushed to Solwezi General Hospital where he died upon arrival.
The said officer who has since been detained and arrested is charged for murder and will appear in court as soon as investigations are complete.
So the police are evil world over I see.
This is UNACCEPTABLE. It is time to lock people up for poor judgment just like HH. Shooting a person for no crime committed is UNACCEPTABLE.
Our ZP need retraining.. How could traffic police be at liberty of firing a gun for traffic related offences? If anything, they need to advise the person to report to his or her nearest police station with relevant documentation with a 7 days or so. Every life is valuable and therefor no need to kill people at all.
Traffic department in solwezi is 100% overzealous. How I wish Bowman could come deal with these people every week. This incident is a very very good much needed wake up call…its sad a life had to be lost.
To bad