Police in Gombe, under the Kasangati Police Division, are under scrutiny following the fatal shooting of a barber during an operation targeting suspected night robbers.
The deceased, Amon Tindyebwa, was shot dead on Wednesday at around 2 a.m. along the Kasangati–Matugga Road. At the time of the incident, he was riding a motorcycle with his friend, Hamidu Ssetimba.
Ssetimba said police officers intercepted them, insisting they were the robbers they had been waiting for, even though they were not carrying any lethal or rudimentary weapons. He said they tried to explain their innocence, but the situation quickly escalated.
“In that scuffle, police fired bullets, and we realized Tindyebwa had been shot in the chest. Police insisted that we were robbers. They later called their colleagues, who came and took Tindyebwa’s body to the mortuary. I want to tell you that Tindyebwa was killed in cold blood by reckless police officers,” Ssetimba said.
Ssetimba explained that they had left Tindyebwa’s salon at around midnight and travelled to Matugga, where they met a friend identified as Dickson. The trio reportedly spent several hours talking before he and Tindyebwa decided to ride back home.
“We later decided to ride the motorcycle home. We didn’t know that police officers had taken cover waiting for suspected robbers, whom they claimed were moving on a motorcycle. We did not have any lethal weapons,” Ssetimba said.
Luke Owoyesigyire, the deputy Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, confirmed the shooting and said investigations are ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident. “We suspect that the deceased was among the criminals because we found machetes at the place where he was killed. Another person was also shot and injured. But this incident is being investigated,” Owoyesigyire said.
David Ssegawa, a friend of Ssetimba, said Tindyebwa operated both a salon and a clothing boutique located next to each other. He described him as a hardworking young man and rejected claims that he was involved in criminal activity. “We all knew Tindyebwa as a salon operator, and he was a hardworking young man. He would leave the salon and go home.
It has shocked us that the police killed him, yet he was with his friend. If police officers had listened to these people, Tindyebwa wouldn’t be dead,” Ssegawa said.
Tindyebwa’s mother, Beatrice Balireta, said her son was peaceful, friendly, and hardworking. She added that he had never been involved in criminal activities and was well known in the community.
“I am shocked that my son was killed on suspicion of being a thief. He was known by many people in this area despite being in his early 20s. You cannot ask anyone here, and they tell you he was a bad person. I need justice for my son,” Balireta said.
It remains unclear whether police have assigned a special team to investigate the shooting or whether the case will follow the pattern of other incidents in which civilians have been killed and no action taken against the officers involved.
