A 43-year-old police sergeant is due in the Bushbuckridge magistrate’s court on Thursday on charges of murder.
The suspect is said to have fatally shot a 36-year-old woman at a fuel station in Bushbuckridge on Tuesday night. He was off-duty at the time.
According to a police report, the victim was at a kiosk behind the counter where she was employed as a cashier when the police officer, the father of her three-year-old child, reportedly entered the kiosk.
Further information indicates that he was permitted by a security guard to gain entry, as he was known to be a police officer who often visited the woman.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said after entering the place, an argument ensued between the couple. The police officer allegedly drew his service pistol during the heated conversation and shot his baby-mama multiple times.
“Thereafter the security guard managed to lock the suspect inside the kiosk before he, as well as other employees, ran for their lives, leaving him behind with the victim bleeding profusely,” said Mohlala.
Following the shooting, police were alerted and they found the sergeant still inside the kiosk with the victim.
“He was disarmed, arrested and charged with murder. The service firearm was seized for further investigation,” said Mohlala.
“The sergeant is working under the detective services in Bushbuckridge. The motive for the killing is unknown at this stage, however, domestic violence cannot be ruled out.”
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Manamela urged police officers and the public in general to seek professional assistance from employee health and welfare or other relevant services from social workers rather than resorting to violence.
“Incidents of domestic violence are heartbreaking because innocent children are often left destitute. What is more concerning in this incident is that the suspect is a police officer who should be protective,” said Manamela.
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