MASAKA – Police in Masaka district are hunting for unknown gunmen who shot dead two people and injured another during an attempted robbery in Mukungwe Sub-county on Monday night.
According to witnesses, the deceased were killed during a raid on a mobile money shop. The deceased persons have been identified as Andrew Katongole, 26, a teacher at St Francis Primary School Bulayi, and Harriet Nassande, a bar attendant.
The two men reportedly invaded the mobile money shop belonging to Katongole at around 9 pm and demanded for money but when he resisted, they shot him dead. The thugs also shot at Nassande, who was in the nearby bar, to scare her way. She later died on the way to hospital.
Ms. Mariam Reginah Nakanwagi, the wife to Katongole, who was in the shop at the time, was also shot at but survived with injuries and is currently admitted to Masaka Regional Referral Hospital.
Speaking to this website from her hospital bed on the morning of Tuesday, March 5, Nakanwagi revealed that the thugs did not take any money after realizing that their gunshots would attract police attention.
“The thugs thought that the bullets they fired at my arm killed me and rushed outside and started firing bullets and it’s unfortunate my husband is gone,” she said.
The Southern Regional Police spokesperson, Mr. Lameck Kigozi, confirmed the incident, saying the attackers will soon be arrested.
“I want to echo our commitment into the investigations and soon or later, these people will be apprehended just like we did before,” he said.
Greater Masaka region has over the last three years been the scene of several armed robberies, in most cases resulting in the death of people. Police and the army have camped in the area and conducted several security operations but the attacks have persisted. Last year, one suspected attacker was killed and another arrested during an attempted robbery at the home of a nurse in the area.
