Teargas and live bullets on Monday rocked Kamuli Municipality as a group of youth protested the killing of their colleague, Gusta Bukomye, 18, a resident of Nawangaisa in Kamuli District.
According to one of the protesters, the police officer (not named) shot dead Bukomye at Buwenge Empya, Northern Division, and rode him on a motorcycle before dumping him at Kamuli General Hospital Parking Yard.
He then reportedly fired up in the air to gain escape route from the rowdy Boda Boda riders who had followed him. This caused the patients and their attendants to scamper out of the wards for safety.
“This rogue police officer shot at an innocent boy simply because he had a Rastafarian hairstyle like the ones of those who had roughed him the previous night over a woman. He is just a victim of mistaken identity because he has been a polite young man,” an eyewitness said.
The Bar and Video Hall owners attribute the ‘sour relationship’ between Police and the youth to a fight for women, which they say resulted into a scuffle where the police officer was roughed up before retreating to the barracks.
According to bar owners, the police officer was still carrying anger from the previous night, until Monday morning when he stormed the drinking place with an assault rifle, shooting Bukomye dead.
These policemen drink, chew mairungi, and in the end show all kinds of bad behaviour. This time round, the boys decided to rough this officer up over a woman he had forcefully grabbed from their colleague,” one of the bar owners narrated.
Busoga North Police Spokesperson, Mr Michael Kasadha said that they are holding the suspect in their custody and have preferred murder charges against him, adding that he will be arraigned in court once investigations are complete.
“We are investigating circumstances under which this ugly incident happened. We promise that justice will prevail to both the aggrieved family and the police officer,” he said.
The body was later picked up by police and transported to Nawangaisa in Kamuli District for burial.
