The incident sparked public outrage and members of the public stormed the police station demanding the arrest of the police officer.
Source: Zim taxi violence leaves three dead
“The shot went astray, hitting an elderly man who was walking along the pavement.”
The man was still covered by cardboard boxes at around 10pm, hours after the incident took place.
The same police officer reportedly fired another shot, which hit a roasted maize vendor, who was heavily pregnant.
She was taken to Harare Central Police Station in a commuter omnibus, where she reportedly died.
Another man who was standing far away was said to have been shot in the leg and also ferried to hospital by an ambulance.
The fourth victim was said to have been shot in the head.
The incident sparked public outrage and members of the public stormed the police station demanding the arrest of the police officer.
Enraged members of the public went belligerent and besieged the police station, stoning glass panes and torching three cars in protest.
“Every cop in uniform was thoroughly bashed until they started firing tearsmoke canisters into the protesters,” another witness said
The incident took place barely a few hours after local government, public works and national works minister July Moyo reversed Harare City Council’s decision to ban kombis in town in a move codenamed Operation Restore Order.
The move saw commuters walking on foot, some for more than 5km, to get to the central business district.
Police spokesperson senior assistant commissioner Charity Charamba did not respond to questions sent to her at the time of publishing.
African News Agency
COMMENTS
Remember that Mugabe murdered 20 000 in his time in the eighties. Now we have Police killing civilians under ED?
Violence cannot be condoned but one cause for it is lack of consultation. Many times now we have seen people react angrily to decisions that could have been reached more amicably by simply engaging the affected before implementation. Also some deeper discussion is needed – is there any sense in “de-congesting” traffic in the CBD by making people walk for 5km and congesting the pavements in the process?