An acting captain of the Durban Metro Police has been arrested after allegedly firing gunshots during a quarrel with his wife, and accidently injuring their two children.
The fight between the officer, 44, and his wife – also a metro police officer – took place on Tuesday.
The man is attached to the Public Order Policing Unit.
According to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID), a bullet grazed the couple's 25-year-old daughter in the arm, while their 20-year-old son was wounded on the chin.
IPID spokesperson Grace Langa said the son was hospitalised.
The officer shot his children using his service firearm.
"The member has been arrested and charged," Langa added.
In separate incident, a man died after he was allegedly shot by a police officer on Monday.
Mpangeni police officers were following up information on people who were in possession of firearms and involved in robberies in the area.
When the officers arrived at the given address, they arrested four people, including the deceased. Three firearms – two pistols and a rifle – were found.
According to Langa, one man then said he needed to go back to his room to fetch his medication. He was escorted by two police officers.
"It is further alleged that while they were in the room searching for the…medication, [he] grabbed the firearm of one of the members and attempted to rob him of the firearm," Langa said.
They started fighting over the firearm. The man had his hand on the officer's pistol and ended up on the floor.
Langa said one of the officers gave the man a verbal warning, but he continued to fight over the firearm.
The officer then shot the man using an R5 rifle. The man continued to wrestle for control of the firearm, and the officer fired two more shots, fatally wounding him.
A post-mortem was conducted on Tuesday, and DNA samples were collected from the deceased.
SOURCE: NEWS24
