A police detective accused of shooting and killing a friend with his service pistol has not been arrested, Ipid confirmed.
A Mpumalanga police detective accused of killing his friend with his service pistol has not been arrested.
It is alleged that a few days ago, a policeman in Kinross, Mpumalanga, was drinking with his friends when the pistol went off. One of the friends was shot in the stomach and died.
The Citizen learned the officer was detained at the Kinross police station and released a few hours later.
Detective not arrested – Ipid
Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) spokesperson Phaladi Shuping confirmed that the detective had not been arrested, but he did not give more details.
“No arrest yet, but we are investigating a case of murder,” Shuping said.
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Yesterday, community members of Kinross called on the authorities to deal harshly with the cop, so that other police will learn not to handle guns carelessly and endangering people’s lives.
“This man has always played with a gun and sometimes you would find him transporting a group of drunk women using the state vehicle,” a source who spoke to The Citizen alleged.
“Yes, it is true that when the incident happened, he was drunk and in the company of his friends as they were celebrating his birthday.
Shooting at about 11pm
“It was about 11pm when I heard a gunshot in his rented room.
“In the morning, we went there to check and his other friends told us that after drinking a lot of beers, they started playing with a gun, which went off and hit a young man in the stomach,” said a source.
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The source also alleged that everybody in the community knew that the cop used to play with a gun in public.
“When he was employed by the South African Police Service, we were happy for him, but his behaviour changed and started to irritate everybody.
“It is sad that his behaviour robbed us of a young man.
Lesson to other misbehaving officers
“Even though sentencing him will never bring back the young man, it would be a lesson to other misbehaving officers.”
Damian Enslin, chair of the South African Gunowners’ Association, said the law prohibits the handling of a firearm while under the influence of a substance which has an intoxicating or narcotic effect.
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“So, clearly, in terms of law, you may not handle or use firearms under the influence of alcoholic beverages and that is immediately an offence.
“We are calling on the police to thoroughly investigate the matter, to get to the root or investigate thoroughly the cause of this unfortunate death and to obviously fully prosecute the case.”
Claire Taylor, a research and policy analyst at Gun Free South Africa, asked if it was a service gun and he was off duty, why wasn’t it secured at the station as required by law?
Service gun and off duty?
“And if he was on duty, why was he drinking? The alleged release of the officer without a court appearance also raises serious questions about accountability,” Taylor said.
“Guns are designed to kill. The risk escalates dramatically when alcohol is present. In this case, a birthday celebration became a murder.
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“With the pull of a trigger, lives have changed forever. One person is dead and the officer is facing the reality that he killed his friend while playing with a gun while drunk.
“We call on the police to ensure that a full investigation is undertaken and that accountability is enforced without exception.”
