File picture: Police cap
It is believed a police officer seated in a vehicle accidentally discharged his firearm while cleaning it, fatally shooting his colleague in the chest on Wednesday night.
According to a report by TimesLive, the police officer is linked to the Kraaifontein Police Station in Cape Town and spokesperson for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) Moses Dlamini confirmed they were investigating the incident and trying to establish the facts, as they only had a preliminary report so far.
It was further reported that it would be up to the SA Police Service (SAPS) as to whether the officer would be suspended. Dlamini reiterated that, at present, the information they had was that the incident was “accidental”.
Incidents of police officers losing their lives while in the line of duty have made headlines recently and, prior to this incident on Wednesday night, the SAPS issued a statement saying that since the beginning of the financial year, April 1, two members had lost their lives in the line of duty.
The statement said SAPS management viewed the attacks on their members seriously. They called upon members to respond to such attacks, within the confines of the law.
“The use of proportional force and the exercising of maximum restraint must be guiding principles in the execution of our policing mandate. The SAPS will continue to ensure that officers have the necessary skills required to respond to specific situations,” the statement read.
SAPS acting national police commissioner Lieutenant General Khomotso Phahlane called on members of the public to assist law enforcement agencies in condemning and apprehending those responsible for the ongoing killings of members of the service.
Phahlane was referring to the incident on Wednesday morning when a police officer on his way to work was fatally shot at a bus stop, only a few metres away from his home in Phoenix near Durban.
READ MORE: Police officer shot dead in KZN
The motive behind the assassination was being investigated and a case of murder was registered at Phoenix Police Station.
Then, on Thursday morning, it was further reported the body of a 37-year-old policewoman was found after she was reported missing at the Kanyamazane Police Station in Mpumalanga over the weekend.
Her male friend was arrested and charged with murder and will appear at the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court soon.
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