One arrested over Entebbe shooting
Crime scene. Police officers cordon off the scene where two people were shot dead on Entebbe Expressway on Thursday night. Inset are the window of the co-driver’s seat which was penetrated by two bullets, and one of the deceased. COURTESY PHOTOS.
What you need to know:
- The investigators are following the line that the deceased were attacked because of an unspecified amount of money that is suspected to have been robbed from their vehicle after they were killed.
- Ruhegyera, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident, is said to be related to the First Family.
Security agencies have arrested one person believed to be a member of the armed forces in relation to the shooting dead of two people on Entebbe Expressway on Thursday night.
The two victims, Merina Tumukunde, and Joshua Ruhegyera Ntereho, were driving from Busega towards Entebbe in a Toyota Prado.
The shootout happened at an area surrounded by an expansive wetland without human settlement.
A security source said the arrested person is suspected to have been near the scene on the fateful day.
Investigations to establish the people behind the killing of the two are still ongoing.
By press time, police were yet to issue a statement on the killing.
The attack
The gunman shot two bullets that penetrated through the car window on the co-driver’s side. The bullets appear to have been shot from a raised ground targeting where the co-driver sits.
The co-driver’s seat appears to have been empty at the time of the shooting.
How the vehicle stopped during the attack is also still an issue of investigation since there is no sign that the driver struggled to manoeuvre to fend off the attack.
The vehicle was found properly parked on the road shoulders.
Tumukunde was found dead behind the co-driver’s seat after she was shot once in the head.
Investigators at the scene said the shooting could have been at close range and that the attacker might have done it after opening the door since no bullet holes were seen on her door or windscreen.
According to unofficial police report, the body of the male victim was found in a pool of blood outside the vehicle, with a rifle in hand.
Forensic officers suspect that he got out of the car unhurt in a desperate move to flee from the scene but was shot in the head before he could fire back. His firearm wasn’t taken by the killers.
Three cartridges were recovered at the scene. Both police and army personnel spent a big part of Thursday night searching the crime scene.
The bodies were removed at about 2.30am after forensic officers had done their work.
People who knew Ntereho say he was close to the First Family and he had started up a company called Amba Financial Ltd, with the help of the First Son, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. The company gives out loans to youth at a low interest rates.
The incident happened at least 100 metres away from a police CCTV camera with facial recognition technology.
Who are the victims?
The scant details about one of the victims in the shootout on Kampala-Entebbe Express Highway, Joshua Ntereho Rushegyera (pictured above), reveal the deceased had worked with China Communications Construction Company on the ongoing Entebbe Airport expansion.
On his Facebook page, there are photos he took with the members of the First Family at State House, Entebbe. On the page, he says he studied at St Mary’s College Kisubi. His friends posted on the page to commiserated with his family.
One of the photos he posted on his Facebook page in March shows him standing with a child and a counter-terrorism police officer holding a gun and closely watching them.
Information about Merina Tumukunde was very scanty by press time.
Early peek into investigations
Investigators have made arrests in connection to the shooting to death of Merina Tumukunde and Joshua Ntereho Ruhegyera on the Entebbe Express Highway on Thursday night.
The investigators are following the line that the deceased were attacked because of an unspecified amount of money that is suspected to have been robbed from their vehicle after they were killed.
Ruhegyera, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident, is said to be related to the First Family.
A police officer with Tourism Police was arrested after his gun, an AK 47 rifle No. UG POL. 56-31006990022697 with bullets, was allegedly recovered from the scene.
Information obtained by Saturday Monitor shows that the police officer signed for the same gun on Thursday evening from Entebbe Police Station before heading out to an unknown guard post in Entebbe Municipality.
Upon arrest, the policeman allegedly told police detectives investigating the killing that the Ruhegyera, who he knew, was related to the First Family, went to him and asked him to escort them somewhere to pick up some unspecified amount of money.
A source close to the investigation said: “The three left Entebbe and came to Millennium Hotel in Zzana (Kampala). According to [the arrested police officer], he was left outside the hotel. He said when the duo came out, they just entered the vehicle and drove off with the gun.”
He also reportedly told the investigators that when the duo drove off and left him at Millennium Hotel, he waited for them in vain until he jumped into a taxi and headed back to Entebbe.
Our source said that two others have since been arrested over the incident. A man who had reportedly gone to check on the arrested policeman yesterday morning was also detained, in addition to a third suspect, whose details we had not yet established by press time.
Additional reporting by Tom Mabala and Risdel Kasasira
