FORT PORTAL, UGANDA: The Police in Fort Portal City are investigating circumstances under which a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldier shot and killed two of his colleagues while injuring another over yet-to-be identified reasons.
The soldier identified as Corporal Avugo Lomuro attached to the Mountain Division Signal Department under the Airforce Evacuation Component is said to have taken off after killing his two colleagues on Thursday night.
In the shooting spree, a female soldier reportedly sustained injuries during the altercation and is currently receiving treatment at an unnamed medical facility.
Speaking of the tragic incident that comes barely a day after the President addressed the country on security matters, Col Deo Akiiki, the UPDF deputy Spokesperson condemned the shooting and said efforts are underway to have the runaway soldier apprehended and charged with murder.
“We received an incident report regarding Corporal Avugo Lomuro of the Mountain Division Signal Department, who is attached to the Airforce Evacuation Component. Tragically, he shot and killed two colleagues and caused injuries to another, whose name is being withheld in accordance with UPDF reporting policies,” Col Akiiki said when contacted on Friday morning.
“He (suspect) will definitely be brought to book to answer for his crimes,” the deputy army spokesperson vowed.
According to residents in the neighbourhood of the barracks where the shooting incident happened just hours after the Presidential address on security.
They say several gunshots from the barracks threw them in panic with many of them in fear that the runaway officer might cause havoc in the area.
“I had not yet slept by the time I heard the gunshots, together with my family members. We were scared thinking that ADF rebels had attacked the barracks. However, in the morning we were told that soldiers inside the barracks were fighting,” said Mr James Tusiime, a resident of Katojo where the barracks are located.
The barracks in question have for long been regarded as a vital military installation and a cornerstone of the UPDF’s operations in the region which is currently in a joint operation of hunting for the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in the eastern DR Congo.
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