Panic in Napak as Suspect Takes Off With Loaded Police Gun

Tension is high in Napak district following the escaped of a suspected rapist with a fully loaded police firearm. Michael Longole, the South Karamoja Police spokesperson, says the suspect grabbed the gun from an officer at Kangole police station in Kangole town council on Tuesday morning. 

According to Longole, the suspect had been picked up from Kangole town council for attempted rape. "While at Kangole Police station one of our officers said he knew the suspect and that he wouldn’t but shortly after, the suspect jumped and grabbed a gun from the officer and took off," he explained.

He says police have teamed up with the army to hunt down the suspect and recover the firearm. "The good thing all the parents and relatives of the suspect have accepted to work with security. We shall get him," he said. He said the officers who were on duty during the incident are most likely to face charges of negligence.



John Lote, one of the eyewitnesses has faulted police for lack of seriousness while handling suspects accused of capital offenses. "The police officers were moving with the suspect as if he, not the one they had gone to arrest,” he said.

According to Lote, the police should always be attentive to such suspects especially in Karamoja where guns are in high demand. There is a high appetite for firearms in Karamoja for cattle rustling.

In Kamoraja loss of a firearm during a cattle raid is treated as a sign of weakness. Such people are killed and the gun handed over to their wives once recovered.