Chinese Nationals Arrested After Shooting Dead 5-Year-Old Girl in Kasempa
Police in Kasempa have arrested two Chinese nationals in connection with the fatal shooting of a five-year-old girl at Jifumpa Primary School Teachers’ Compound. The incident occurred on Wednesday last week around 09:00 hours when the child, daughter of 30-year-old teacher Bornface Mutumbwe, was struck in the head by a stray bullet while standing in a grass-thatched shelter.
Police Assistant Public Relations Officer, Godfrey Chilabi, said the child was rushed to Jifumpa Rural Health Centre and later referred to Mukinge Mission Hospital, where she was pronounced dead upon arrival. North Western Province Police Commissioner, Brighton Siwale, named the suspects as 44-year-old Zheng Chencheng, armed with a 9mm Taurus pistol, and 48-year-old Wan Rong Gen, with a .45mm Sig Sauer P320.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects were testing their firearms at the Ruida Investment mine site, about 100 metres from the school, when one of the bullets struck the victim. Both pistols, ammunition and empty magazines have been recovered for ballistic examinations.
Chilabi confirmed that the suspects are in police custody as investigations continue. The body of the deceased is in Mukinge Mission Hospital mortuary awaiting post-mortem. Locals have called for justice, expressing concern that the suspects may evade accountability due to their financial influence.