Police Officer Shoots Schoolgirl (16)
9 October 2021
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A 16-year-old Bulawayo schoolgirl was shot on the cheek after a police officer discharged his firearm to stop a fistfight between two men in G-Square in Mzilikazi on Monday.

Ayanda Tshuma, a Form 3 pupil at Sobukhazi High School, is admitted to Mpilo Central Hospital .

She was just a bystander. The bullet went through one cheek and exited on the other. A witness said:

There was a fight between Thabani Goredema and Richard Magwenzi, who is a well-known drug dealer in the area. We suspect Goredema works with some police officers because they always come to his house but he is never arrested.

I don’t know why they were fighting, but when the police arrived they handcuffed Richard and started beating him. This incensed residents who asked the officers why they did not arrest Goredema as well.

Ayanda’s relative who requested to be anonymous told ZimLive that police began indiscriminately beating up people who had gathered to watch. Added the relative:

An officer we only know as Shumba fired his gun into the air and people started running all over. When he fired the first shot, one of his colleagues shouted ‘isa panyama’ (put it on the flesh) and the next thing I remember Ayanda was lying down with blood all over her face.

The relative said Ayanda’s mouth was swollen and doctors have recommended surgery after she complained of aching jaws and teeth.

The family said after the shooting, the police officers said they had called an ambulance but none arrived.

They called a friend in Nguboyenja who has a car after realising that the police were not treating the issue with urgency.

The family also made a report of the incident at Mzilikazi Police Station and they called homicide detectives to investigate.

The police officer named Shumba has allegedly offered to pay US$3 000 to Ayanda’s family so that they don’t speak on what transpired. The family says it rejected the money and only wants justice for Ayanda.

Thandekile Moyo, the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association official said it was unnecessary for the police to discharge a gun on defenceless residents.- credit: ZimLive