News / Africa
Cop killed at funeral
28 Jan 2016 at 04:57hrs | Views
Mourners at a funeral in South Africa had to kill a police officer suspecting him of being the man who was on the police wanted list.
Daily Sun reported that all the officer wanted to do was protect the people from a suspect the police had been hunting down for some time.
Instead he ended up being the one caught and killed by the same community he was trying to protect.
And the suspect got away!
In a case of mistaken identity Warrant Officer Joel Seloga (57) had received a tip off about the whereabouts of a man wanted by the North West police.
Seloga was stationed at Hlogotlou Police Station.
At the time of his death he had been part of a team that had been set up to assist North West police in tracing a suspect wanted for crimes committed in Brits.
The team had found that their man was attending a funeral at Madibong Village near Jane Furse.
They then set out to arrest him.
According to police spokeswoman Colonel Ronel Otto, when the policeman wearing plain clothes tried to catch the suspect, the man screamed for help.
And sadly, the residents simply jumped in without asking any questions and tried to rescue the suspect.
They mistook the policeman for a criminal and even suspecting him of being involved in the dead man's murder.
Otto said: "They started chasing the policeman who had retreated and caught up with him.
"They disarmed him of his work pistol and shot him in the head. He died on the spot."
She said they have since managed to arrest 11 people and recovered the policeman's firearm.
Provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Fannie Masemola has expressed shock at the incident.
"I am also disappointed and very angry at the community for taking the law into their own hands," he said.
"There now is an innocent man's blood on their hands.
"The right thing for all leaders in the community to do is assist the police with their investigation," he said.
Daily Sun reported that all the officer wanted to do was protect the people from a suspect the police had been hunting down for some time.
Instead he ended up being the one caught and killed by the same community he was trying to protect.
And the suspect got away!
In a case of mistaken identity Warrant Officer Joel Seloga (57) had received a tip off about the whereabouts of a man wanted by the North West police.
Seloga was stationed at Hlogotlou Police Station.
At the time of his death he had been part of a team that had been set up to assist North West police in tracing a suspect wanted for crimes committed in Brits.
The team had found that their man was attending a funeral at Madibong Village near Jane Furse.
They then set out to arrest him.
According to police spokeswoman Colonel Ronel Otto, when the policeman wearing plain clothes tried to catch the suspect, the man screamed for help.
And sadly, the residents simply jumped in without asking any questions and tried to rescue the suspect.
They mistook the policeman for a criminal and even suspecting him of being involved in the dead man's murder.
Otto said: "They started chasing the policeman who had retreated and caught up with him.
"They disarmed him of his work pistol and shot him in the head. He died on the spot."
She said they have since managed to arrest 11 people and recovered the policeman's firearm.
Provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Fannie Masemola has expressed shock at the incident.
"I am also disappointed and very angry at the community for taking the law into their own hands," he said.
"There now is an innocent man's blood on their hands.
"The right thing for all leaders in the community to do is assist the police with their investigation," he said.
Source - Daily Sun
