The Provincial Commissioner of Free State, Lt Gen Baile Motswenyane is aware of a video which is making rounds of a female police official who was robbed of her official firearm.
The incident took place a week back and the Provincial Commissioner already by then ordered the District Commissioner to conduct thorough investigation on what led to this incident as well as the fitness of the member including her operational readiness during the time of the incident.
According to the information provided the female Sergeant have just dropped her colleague as they were changing shifts. On her way to the police station she noticed a group of people standing outside a local tavern. She stopped trying to find out what was going on, speaking to patrons who were with the son of one of her colleagues.
While speaking to one of the patrons, the 22-year-old suspect known to her as is the son of her colleague who is a police official at Tweeling, opened the vehicle door and without saying anything grabbed her service pistol from the holster. He started firing some shots randomly in the air and the Sergeant realised that she would need back up, she drove away while contacting neighbouring stations for backup to avoid being shot at.
The backup arrived and a search party was launched. The suspect was found at his friend’s premises wearing a police brand new bulletproof vest, members searched the premises and the official’s pistol taken from the member was found hidden in a bucket in the room.
The suspect was immediately arrested for robbery, illegal possession of a firearm, discharging a firearm in a municipal build up area as well as possession of suspected stolen state property.
The 22-year-old suspect already appeared in the Tweeling Magistrates’ Court and was denied bail.
He will appear again on 7 April 2021.
“It is unfortunate that the same person known to the police official as the son to her colleague, who was even the reason why she stopped to check if he is fine, ended up being the one who took her official firearm” said the Provincial Commissioner.
