How police killed 3 officers in robbery

Police killed three people, including a police sergeant, who had earlier disguised as an Assistant Superintendent of Police, suspected to be armed robbers were shot dead after a two-hour shootout at a soap factory in a foiled robbery in a Kampala suburb, on Friday night.

Kampala

On Friday night, residents of Kyengera, a Kampala suburb, were in shock when gunfire rent the sky at a factory belonging to Five Star Excellent Soap Manufacturers. For most of the residents of the usually calm neighbourhood, this was an unexpected development.

However, for police detectives who had been tipped weeks back, it was showdown time with some of their own, only that this time instead of keeping the law, they were armed to break it. Dressed in a police uniform with ranks of Assistant Superintendent of Police, a worker at the factory was approached with a tempting deal – to give food laced with sedatives to armed security guards manning the factory to allow the officers gain entrance with ease.

The worker, whose name has been withheld by the police, asked for more time to think about the offer. Although the worker finally accepted to be part of the crime, he informed the police about the plan to rob property and money at the factory.
“On Friday evening Sgt. [Idris] Okello handed the worker food mixed with sedatives to give to the guards. The guards, who had also been informed of the plot, received the food. They pretended to have eaten it and faked sleep,” a police source said.

The source said the police had already deployed in and out of the factory though hidden from the view of the public.
“At 9pm, a police patrol car arrived occupied by five people including the police sergeant. Armed with two SMG rifles and one pistol, [they] gained entrance to the soap factory.” The source added that police officers, who had been deployed inside the factory, came out of their hide-out and ordered the robbers to surrender. They resisted. “Instead, the suspected robbers started shooting at them,” a source added.

A shootout between suspected rogues and the ‘good’ officers ensued. In the raging fight, Constable Okongo Charles was shot in the arm. His colleagues called for reinforcement as they battled the suspected robbers. The two-hour fight was cut short after they shot dead Muyenze and injured Sgt. Okello and Ismail. Ismail later died at the scene of crime while, Sgt. Okello, a driver of logistics attached Kajjansi Police Station, died in Mulago hospital where he had been admitted with bullet wounds in the leg and left arm.

Seeing no hope for survival, Ms Nabakooba, says Police Probation Constable Nelson Chemonges, and one unidentified person on the side of the suspected thugs, took off. “We are still hunting for them because they have another gun,” Ms Nabakooba said.

Another police officer told the Daily Monitor that police reinforcement reached the factory in time when another two suspected thugs, who had been deployed outside the factory, were fleeing on a boda boda motorcycle. “We arrested them and they are helping us in the reconstructing of the scene of crime. They have also helped us know those who participated in the offence,” the source said.

The bodies of Emmanuel Muyenze, Sgt. Idris Okello and Ismail are in Mulago hospital mortuary.

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