HARARE – Two people were shot and seriously injured by police detectives pursuing an alleged armed robber, the Zimbabwe Republic Police confirmed.
The incident took place on Monday at around 4PM at Taita shops in Chitungwiza, police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said.
“The ZRP 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,” Nyathi said, in a statement.
Nyathi said police were trying to arrest a robbery suspect Denis Madondo who drew an Airgun pistol from his jacket before pointing it at detectives.
“In response the detectives fired a warning shot in 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 the Chitungwiza-Hwedza Road,” Nyathi said,
It was only after an hour that police were alerted to two people who had been shot by stray bullets. The two victims have been named as Tashinga Mugwara and Pamela Muchazorwei.
Mugwara and Muchazorwei “sustained serious injuries” and are being treated at Chitungwiza Hospigtal and Parirenyatwa respectively.
