In a sad development, the ZRP has confirmed that police officers shot two innocent civilians in Chitungwiza on Monday.
The two innocent civilians are reported to have suffered severe injuries and are currently admitted at the Chitungwiza Central Hospital and at the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals.
According to police national spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, the two unfortunate civilians were struck by the same bullet at Taita Shops in Chitungwiza on 27th June 2022.
The police officers allegedly fired the bullet while trying to apprehend a robbery suspect named Denis Madondo.
The police did not manage to apprehend Madondo.
Below is the statement from the Police spokesperson regarding the shooting incident, which iHarare is publishing in full.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police is investigating an unfortunate incident that occurred at Taita Shops in Chitungwiza on 27th June 2022 at around 1600 hours, where police had a shoot-out with a robbery suspect only identified as Denis Madondo.
Police received a tip-off and located the suspect at Taita Shops. The suspect noticed detectives approaching and drew an Airgun pistol from his jacket before pointing it to the detectives. In response, the detectives fired a warning shot into the air and later shot towards the suspect and missed him.
The suspect dropped the pistol and fled into the bushes where he got into an unregistered red Honda Fit vehicle and drove off towards Chitungwiza-Hwedza Road.
After about an hour, it emerged that the bullet which missed the suspect had hit Tashinga Mugwara and Pamela Muchazorwei. The two victims sustained serious injuries and are currently admitted at Chitungwiza Hospital and Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals respectively.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police deeply regrets the unfortunate shooting of the two and urges the public to quickly move away from crime scenes especially when armed robbers are confronting Police officers.
The police will not rest until all robbery suspects are brought to book and the law takes its course. Above all, criminals are warned against resisting arrest and firing at Police officers, as an appropriate measure of force will be retained.-iharare
