A COP arrived at the police station to perform his duties on Wednesday, 5 June.
But his colleagues immediately arrested him for the murder of an officer who was shot dead, allegedly by the same cop.
KZN police spokesman Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed that cops in Nsuze arrested one of their own, a constable (40), for allegedly shooting and killing his colleague inside Nsuze Police Station on Tuesday, 4 June.
“Information at this stage indicates that a 47-year-old sergeant was on duty at the Community Service Centre with his colleague, a constable, on Tuesday night. It’s reported that the constable was doing a routine patrol inside the premises of the police station when he heard gunshot sounds coming out of the Community Service Centre. When he rushed to investigate, he reportedly saw an off-duty constable running away from the CSC,” he said.
He said when the on-duty constable entered the CSC, he reportedly found his sergeant colleague sitting on the chair with gunshot wounds and was declared dead at the scene.
“In an unusual turn of events, the suspected murderer reported for duty on Wednesday, 5 June and was duly arrested. The motive of the killing is unknown at this stage,” he said.
Following this incident, KZN police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi encouraged police officers to make use of internal Employee Health and Wellness (EHW) programmes to maintain a sound and sober state of mind at all times and avoid resorting to violence as a form of resolving issues.
Mkhwanazi said that cops must maintain good relations with fellow officers and strive to become each other’s keepers.
“Commanders must be observant at all times and be closer to their members so that they may identify any feud between officers or any sense of unhappiness. Policing is a demanding and traumatic job at times, and police officers are the most prized resources of the organisation and must be looked after as such.
“The incident that happened at a police station in Nsuze is unfortunate, and although criminal charges and the internal disciplinary process will be pursued against the suspect, more efforts must be invested into the investigation of what could have led to such gruesome murder inside a building which is supposed to be a safe haven for police officers,” said Mkhwanazi. Daily Sun.
