Plumtree police fatally shoot Mangwe villager
National police spokesperson said police were conducting an arrest of a robbery suspect when they came under attack from members of the public,He alleged the mob to be ‘machete thugs’ as they were carrying machetes and other objects, which they used to attack police.
A police officer shot and killed a man at Mangwe District in Plumtree who had stabbed him on the head with a broken bottle after he attempted to stop a fight that had broken out amongst imbibers at local a bottle store.
Sources in Plumtree said the man who was shot was an injiva, who was home for the holidays from his base in South Africa.
“The man had been drinking with friends when a fight broke out at Bhulu bottlestore in Ingwizi. Police who were patrolling the area tried to stop the fight and the man stabbed one of the police officers on the head with a bottle. This led to a police officer taking out his gun and shot him. He was taking to hospital but later died there,” sources said.
However, according to a police report seen by CITE the victim was identified as Thulani Ndlovu (35) while his accomplices were identified as Nkosana Moyo (23) and Siphamandla Ncube (22) all from Ngazimbi village. National police spokesperson, Chief-Superintendent Paul Nyathi confirmed the shooting claiming the victim was suspected to be a member of a machete wielding gang. Nyathi, who could not specify the exact time of the incident on that Friday, said police were conducting an arrest of a robbery suspect when they came under attack from members of the public who interfered in their arrest of a robbery suspect.He alleged the mob to be ‘machete thugs’ as they were carrying machetes and other objects, which they used to attack police.
“A person was arrested for robbery and was to be taken in for indication when during the process members of the public attacked the police,” he told CITE in an interview.
The national spokesperson said the police had to fire warning shots to control the mob who were advancing at them.
“It was in that process that one person from the mob was shot and later died,” Nyathi noted.
He said during the scuffle, the robbery suspect who was still in handcuffs ran away.Nyathi added that police suspected the mob to be part of the ‘notorious’ machete wielding gangs due to their weaponry and manner they attacked the police officers on duty.
“It seemed the mob were the robber’s colleagues, looking at how they teamed up to attack the police,” said the police spokesperson.
Nyathi, however, said the robbery suspect, still in handcuffs handed himself to the police this Saturday morning. He warned members of the public not to engage in violent behaviors and stop interfering with police, especially as they carried out arrests
“We warn members of the public not to take the law into their hands… as the person who was shot was part of that mob and a police officer was seriously injured during that incident” he said.
Nyathi added that police were still conducting investigations into the incident and the machete gangs, saying more information would be released in due course.
Sources said the body of the deceased was taken to Brunapeg Hospital mortuary while the injured police were treated and later discharged.
