Police officer shot and killed at a Lusaka checkpoint

One Police officer has died while two others are nursing injuries after a shooting incident which happened this morning at about 07:00 hours at the Great East road barrier a few meters from the Airport round about in Lusaka.

In a statement, Police Spokesperson Esther Katongo says the incident happened when four Chipata based Police Detectives who had gone to Chongwe on investigations in the company of a suspect were proceeding to Lusaka to apprehend another suspect after recovering a fire arm in Chongwe.

Ms Katongo says during the time the officers were proceeding to Lusaka, Chalimbana Police received a phone call from a member of the public that there was a group of heavily armed criminals who were driving from Chongwe proceeding to Lusaka hence alerted an officer operating at the barrier near Airport round about Inspector Mukoka who later closed the barrier.

She narrates that when the police officers from Chipata reached the barrier and found it closed, one officer detective Sergeant Kapolyo disembarked from the vehicle with a view of finding out whether there were officers at the point and when there was no response, he went ahead to open the barrier and that it was at this point that the police officer stationed at the check point Inspector Mukoka opened fire shooting Sergeant Kapolyo in the chest after mistaking the officers for the criminals he was earlier alerted about .

Ms Katongo says the officer at the check point fired another shot which grazed Detective Chief Inspector Chilumbu in the neck and the same bullet hit the driver of the motor vehicle detective Inspector Banda in the neck and he died on the spot.

Ms Katongo states that detective sergeant Kapolyo and Detective Inspector Chilumbu are both admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Levy Mwanawasa General Hospital, while the body of the deceased is in the same Hospital Mortuary.