Selma Ikela
WINDHOEK – A 25-year-old man was shot in the head by a passenger seated in a vehicle that drove along Omuvapu Street last Friday evening in Ombili.
The victim was seriously wounded and was admitted to the Katutura state hospital in a critical condition.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Immanuel Iiduwa said the incident happened while the victim and his friend were in the street witnessing a quarrel between unknown people.
“The victim was seriously wounded and is admitted in Katutura hospital in a critical condition. The vehicle was identified by witnesses and a 49-year-old male was arrested and his pistol was also seized,” stated Iiduwa.
In addition, Khomas Police regional crime investigations coordinator, Deputy Commissioner Abner Agas, yesterday said the victim’s condition has not changed since he was admitted in hospital. When asked if the suspect and victim know each other, Agas replied in the negative.
So far this is a third incident this year where people were shot by unknown persons seated in a vehicle and then fleeing the scene.
In January this year, Hercules ‘Fischer’ Hansen, 34, sustained a leg injury after he was shot by an unknown person seated in a white BMW, and who fled the scene. The suspect remains at large. Hansen was in the company of four friends during the early hours of January 13.
Hansen was thereafter admitted at Katutura hospital for a week and got an external fixation device to keep the fractured bones stabilized and in alignment.
In the third incident, the suspect who shot the Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST) student Naeman Ibe Amakali, 22, and injured two other passengers during the fatal road rage incident, remains at large.
The shooting happened in March when Amakali along with five other occupants, who are relatives and friends, were travelling in an acquaintance’s taxi. The shooting happened along Hans Dietrich Genscher Street at Tabitha in the early hours of March 21.
Amakali’s surviving brother, identified only as Gideon, was shot below the eye and in the upper shoulder. A third passenger was shot in the stomach.
According to Amakali’s cousin, Mathew Iyambo, who was also in the vehicle, the suspect drove a dark blue hatchback sedan, possibly a VW Polo.
Furthermore, Agas said in both Hansen and Amakali’s case, the suspects have not yet been arrested and a search is on, while the public are requested to provide information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.
He said the information provided will be kept a secret. Agas further warned people with intentions of such nature to refrain from shooting at people. “The law will take its course if found committing such heinous crimes,” he warned.