Police detains own officer over killing suspect

A senior police officer under Old Kampala Division has been arrested on allegations of shooting dead a rape suspect.
Mr Cristopher Maswele, an Assistant Supretendant of police (ASP), who is the officer-in-charge of Lugala Police Station, is in detention at Old Kampala Police Station on allegations that he shot Ali Ambayo from Lugala in Rubaga Division.
The police spokesperson for Kampala Metropolitan region, Mr Patrick Onyango, said Ambayo was alleged to have raped a woman in Lugala on Wednesday.
“The police officers went to arrest the suspect after the rape victim narrated the incident to police. When they reached where the suspect lived, police tried to arrest him but he resisted and attempted to disarm the police officer. The officers discharged warning shots, but the suspect went ahead and attempted to grab a gun from one of the officers. The officer who headed the operation, ASP Maswele Cristopher, fired bullets that killed the suspect on the  spot,” Mr Onyango said.
Ambayo was a private guard at a motor garage in Kosovo slum.
Mr Martin Kintu, a resident of Lugala Zone, told Daily Monitor that the deceased and the victim were once lovers but had separated after a misunderstanding.
The body was taken to city mortuary at Mulago National Referral Hospital for a postmortem.
“Our officer who shot dead the suspect is in our police detention as investigations into the matter continue. We appeal to members of the public to always cooperate with our officers while on duty and not to resist arrest,” Mr Onyango said.
Last October, police in Sironko District arrested one of their own for allegedly shooting dead a suspected defiler.