where they were hiding |
Besides the pistol they used in the murder, the assailants
were also armed with the two rifles they seized from the soldiers they shot on
Saturday.
A combined team from the police and army mounted a search
immediately after the Saturday shooting in Chivu and tracked down the pair.
The two resisted arrest and instead opened fire on the
police and army team. An exchange of fire ensued during which both assailants
were shot and Corporal Stanalious Chiunye, from 1 Commando Regiment, was
seriously injured in the leg.
Giving official details, police spokesperson Assistant
Commissioner Paul Nyathi said: “Following the tragic shooting of two security
service members in a murder, attempted murder and robbery incident at Chicken
Inn Police Base, Chivhu on September 5, 2020 and the subsequent deployment of
investigation teams, the security services inform the public that the two
suspects have been accounted for after an exchange of fire at Waterbury Farm,
Ward 8 Chivhu, off Chivhu-Gutu Road,” he said.
Assistant Comm Nyathi said the suspects observed a security
service team approaching and tried to run away. They hid in an anthill pit and
exchanged fire with the security services. In the process, one security service
member was shot in the leg.
“The suspects were then shot and seriously injured. They
were taken to Chivhu Hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival,” he
said.
He added that two rifles, four magazines which were robbed
from the two shot soldiers plus the pistol used by the criminals to commit the
murder and armed robbery were recovered from the scene.
Asst Comm Nyathi commended the public for their
cooperation, which assisted in the location of the robbers.
“The security service applauds the public for swiftly
supplying information and cooperation with the investigation teams, leading to
the location of the two robbers.
“The security services reiterates that criminal elements
who want to cause alarm and disturb the peace currently existing in the country
will be decisively dealt with in terms of the country’s laws.”
Eyewitnesses told The Herald that the suspects spent part
of Saturday preceding the mishap, monitoring how the security agents were
carrying out their duties.
One of the good Samaritans who assisted the injured soldier
after the attack, Willard Mugabe, said he witnessed the incident in disbelief.
“It happened so fast like a movie. The two men were
loitering around the area drinking beer yet they were monitoring the movements
of the security forces at the Police Base.
At around 3pm the officers entered the post for their daily routine.
Some few minutes later we heard some gun shots and we ran away.”
Two women police officers were lucky to escape the ordeal
unhurt.
After the duo had left clutching the stolen firearms
disappearing into a bush behind the police post, vendors rushed into the police
base to see if they could lend a hand.
“We observed from a distance only to realise that one of
the soldiers was killed and the other one was seriously injured. We organised a
car and took the injured soldier to Chivhu hospital, the other one had already
died,” said Mugabe.
An employee with Chicken Inn, who declined to be named said
after hearing gunshots at the complex, they closed their food outlet.
“When we realised that there were some skirmishes outside
the shop, we closed our doors,” he said, adding that security forces, reacted
swiftly to the scene.
A manhunt for the assailants was launched immediately until they located yesterday in a
bushy area near the border of Chivhu and Gutu, where they were shot dead.
The two suspects are yet to be identified. Herald
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