New Details: Rushinga Soldier In Triple Murder Also Gunned Down 18-Year-Old Lover
Police have blamed soldiers for provoking the fatal shooting of three people by a Rushinga soldier last week.
The soldier killed two people at a bar and later shot dead his 18-year-old girlfriend before taking his own life using the same rifle just after midnight on Saturday.
In a memo seen by ZimLive, the Officer in Charge of Rushinga Police Station named the killer soldier as Corporal Henry Ncube of 2.2 Combat Group Mudzi but was attached to Rushinga Army base at the time.
Ncube shot dead Justice Makiwa, aged 33, Victor Mufaro Dzowa, a 38-year-old CIO operative and Evernice Magwenzi, his girlfriend.
He was armed with an AK47 rifle loaded with 30 bullets, police have said.
One Inspector Munemo Munetsi was also shot by Ncube but escaped with injuries after hospital treatment.
According to the police memo, Ncube and a colleague entered Chikuni Bottle Store at Rushinga business centre on the fateful night dressed in army fatigue while armed with rifles. Reads part of the memo:
This did not go well with the patrons who were in the bottle store.
Police revealed that Makiwa was drinking beer outside his Toyota Fortuner at Rushinga Business Centre together with Dzaoma when he was approached by Ncube and his colleague. Police said:
A conversation ensued between the two soldiers and the now-deceased Justice Makiwa and they had a heated argument.
The accused person cocked his rifle and shot Justice Makiwa on the head once and he fell down.
The accused fired more shots, one of which grazed Corporal Simbo Tawanda once on the left hand as he was trying to disarm him.
The accused also shot the second deceased Victor Mufaro Dzaoma on the abdomen while the latter was trying to restrain him from further discharging his firearm.
Ncube reportedly left for the army barracks where he lives and shot his unsuspecting girlfriend in the head as she lay on the bed before shooting himself in the neck.
Police later found Makiwa’s lifeless body covered with a pink cloth, and blood and was oozing from his head next to his car.
Dzaoma also lay facing upwards some 7 mitres away with a gunshot wound on the abdomen. Police said:
A trail of blood was leading from the steps of Goto bottle store to his resting place.
Police added that at the second scene, the room door was wide open with Ncube’s young girlfriend’s body “lying facing upwards and suspected brains were splashed on the bed”. Police said:
She was covered with a blanket/suggesting that she was shot while asleep.
The late Corporal Ncube was dressed in army uniform lying facing upwards and had a gun shot on the neck. Suspected brains were protruding. The AK47 rifle was between his legs.
The two bodies were on the same bed and blankets had blood stains. One AK 47 cartridge was seen on the floor.
According to the police memo, officers from the forensic science laboratory who were part of the team that attended the murder scenes are yet to determine the number of rounds discharged.
The officer in charge of Rushinga commented that “the soldiers provoked the situation by entering the public place drinking beer and armed with rifles”.
More: Pindula News
