A suspected armed robber who was part of a five-men gang that robbed and murdered a woman in Gokwe was shot and killed by police at a road block early Saturday morning along the Harare-Chirundu Highway.
Two of the suspects, Walter Wazvanya (25) and George Mushipe (39), have since been arrested while the other one is still at large. The whereabouts of the fifth suspect is still not known.sThe shooting incident occurred at a roadblock at around 4.30am along the highway in Chinhoyi.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident.
“Circumstances are that, police received a tip-off to the effect that a gang of five male adults had robbed and killed a 35-year-old woman at Mutiura 2 Business Centre, Gokwe and that they had fled the scene and headed towards Chinhoyi.
“Police reacted to the information and manned a roadblock along Harare-Chirundu Road. At around 0430hours, a beige Toyota Corolla, registration number AED 8591, which was being driven by Walter Wazvanya approached the roadblock. The driver was ordered to stop,” he said.
He said upon being searched, one of the suspects produced a revolver and pointed it to the officers before firing one shot towards one of them. The officer scampered for cover and was not injured.
“Police arrested two of the suspects at the scene while the other two managed to escape. One of the suspects was later found dead lying in a pool of blood on the grass behind a local bank,” Asst Comm Nyathi said.
The suspect succumbed to gunshots wounds that were fired back at the roadblock. Asst Comm Nyathi declared war to armed robbers saying the long arm of the law will soon catch up with them. Police are appealing for information that might lead to the arrest of the outstanding suspects to contact any nearest police station.
