Ten shot dead at Bombo barracks
Policemen and soldiers try to restore calm at the scene of the crime near Bombo Barrack in Luweero District yesterday. PHOTO BY DAN WANDERA
What you need to know:
Ten people were killed by unknown gunmen in a bar near Bombo Barracks in Luweero District while a man was shot dead near his gate in Entebbe by unknown assailants.
Police are hunting for unknown gunmen who shot dead 11 people, including five soldiers, and injured two others in separate incidents in Entebbe, Wakiso District and Bombo Barracks in Luweero District.
At least 10 people were killed in a market bar near the Lands Forces headquarters in Bombo Barracks at around midnight while the owner of Four Turkeys, a prominent bar in Entebbe, was shot near his gate and later died on the way to hospital.
In the Bombo incident, police identified the dead as Sgt. Joel Obote, Sgt. Onesmus Odure, Corporal Isaac Osere, Warrant Officer II Francis Musana, Sarah Akol and Wilfred Oledi, a market guard. Others are one Oketch, Odere, Private Kedi and the bar owner Maama Jackie.
The two people, including a woman and a child, who survived were admitted to an army hospital in Bombo Barracks. By press time, the army and the police forensic teams had taken over the crime scene and were examining the bodies and the scene to understand how the crime was committed.
The police spokesperson, Ms Judith Nabakooba, said they had not identified the gunmen yet. “The experts want to find out the weapon that the suspect used in the shooting which will help to know who did it and how,” she said. The incident comes a week after armed men attacked Mbuya Barracks where they were repulsed, one shot dead and five others arrested.
Ms Nabakooba said they have not talked to the survivors to find out how the incident happened because they are still in a critical condition. According to Bombo residents, unknown gunmen accessed the bar at around midnight and opened fire, killing eight people on the spot and injuring three others. According to the residents, they had noise and gunshots but did not realise that people had been shot dead until the police arrived at the scene. After hearing the shooting, the market guard, Wilfred Oledi, rushed to the scene to intervene but he was also shot dead, bringing the number to nine.
Surprisingly, the officers who heard the shooting only found one body at Gogonya area thinking that he was the only person killed. “But in the morning, the officers were called in by the residents that people had been shot dead in a bar in Bombo Central Market,” Ms Nabakooba said.
In a related incident, the owner of Four Turkeys Pub, Derek Coggon, was shot dead by unknown assailants near his gate in Entebbe on Friday at 11pm. According to a statement a private security guard gave to the police, when Coggon was near his gate, someone started shooting and a bullet hit him in the neck.
The Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Mr Ibin Ssenkumbi, said Coggon managed to drive to St. Mary’s Clinic in Entebbe but the health workers could not save his life.
