Police rain bullets on car, kill one
The Omusati police are investigating a shooting incident on the eve of Easter weekend which left one man dead and another injured, allegedly at the hands of one of their members.
According to police spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi, the police are alleged to have fired at a vehicle travelling from Outapi heading towards Oshikuku with three occupants. A man in his 30s died instantly while the driver, Nambonga Policatus, 33, sustained a leg injury. The owner of the vehicle escaped unhurt.
Kanguatjivi told Namibian Sun the police were conducting an operation that fateful evening, targeting vehicles suspected to have been involved in crime in the region.
Policatus who was driving a Toyota Corolla at the time of the incident told Namibian Sun from his recovery bed that bullets were flying “all over the place”.
“I was out with my friends at Outapi whom are all from Okando near Okalongo.
The owner of the car had had too much to drink and he gave me the keys to drive us home. While approaching Ombafi village a police van just drove past us and it started shooting at us. I got our car off the road and jumped out. In my shock I ran away. The police stopped their van, drove back at us and started shooting again. Some were shooting at me while others were shooting at the car. One bullet got me in the leg,” Policatus said.
“They started searching us and the car. They confiscated our identity documents and cellphones which we still have not received back. I was taken to Outapi District Hospital, but the following day I was transferred to Oshakati Intermediate Hospital where I was operated,” he said.
Policatus said that he does not know why the police fired.
He said he was not under any guard at the hospital and was allowed to go home without any police restrictions after he was discharged.
“While in the hospital, investigators who came to question me, told me the police fired when we failed to stop. This is not true because when they approached us it looked like they wanted to kill us.”
Kanguatjivi however said that while police were busy with the operation, they spotted the vehicle without a number plate and it was similar to one reported in a crime.
“The police alleged that they attempted to stop the car but it drove away.
They followed them and about 20 kilometres from Outapi the police tried to pass them, but the officers say the car started driving in the middle of the road preventing the police van from passing. They fired and the passenger on the back seat was sadly hit and killed,” Kanguatjivi said.
He said that the driver got the car off the road, but it was stuck in water. The driver tried to run away before the police fired at him and arrested him together with the vehicle's owner.
Kanguatjivi said that no charge or case has opened against the victims, but the police internal investigation unit has opened a case of shooting that is currently under investigation.
“I do not want to release the name of the victim because it might jeopardise the investigation either on the side of the police or the victim,” he said.
ILENI NANDJATO
ILENI NANDJATO
According to police spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi, the police are alleged to have fired at a vehicle travelling from Outapi heading towards Oshikuku with three occupants. A man in his 30s died instantly while the driver, Nambonga Policatus, 33, sustained a leg injury. The owner of the vehicle escaped unhurt.
Kanguatjivi told Namibian Sun the police were conducting an operation that fateful evening, targeting vehicles suspected to have been involved in crime in the region.
Policatus who was driving a Toyota Corolla at the time of the incident told Namibian Sun from his recovery bed that bullets were flying “all over the place”.
“I was out with my friends at Outapi whom are all from Okando near Okalongo.
The owner of the car had had too much to drink and he gave me the keys to drive us home. While approaching Ombafi village a police van just drove past us and it started shooting at us. I got our car off the road and jumped out. In my shock I ran away. The police stopped their van, drove back at us and started shooting again. Some were shooting at me while others were shooting at the car. One bullet got me in the leg,” Policatus said.
“They started searching us and the car. They confiscated our identity documents and cellphones which we still have not received back. I was taken to Outapi District Hospital, but the following day I was transferred to Oshakati Intermediate Hospital where I was operated,” he said.
Policatus said that he does not know why the police fired.
He said he was not under any guard at the hospital and was allowed to go home without any police restrictions after he was discharged.
“While in the hospital, investigators who came to question me, told me the police fired when we failed to stop. This is not true because when they approached us it looked like they wanted to kill us.”
Kanguatjivi however said that while police were busy with the operation, they spotted the vehicle without a number plate and it was similar to one reported in a crime.
“The police alleged that they attempted to stop the car but it drove away.
They followed them and about 20 kilometres from Outapi the police tried to pass them, but the officers say the car started driving in the middle of the road preventing the police van from passing. They fired and the passenger on the back seat was sadly hit and killed,” Kanguatjivi said.
He said that the driver got the car off the road, but it was stuck in water. The driver tried to run away before the police fired at him and arrested him together with the vehicle's owner.
Kanguatjivi said that no charge or case has opened against the victims, but the police internal investigation unit has opened a case of shooting that is currently under investigation.
“I do not want to release the name of the victim because it might jeopardise the investigation either on the side of the police or the victim,” he said.
ILENI NANDJATO
ILENI NANDJATO
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