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Evidence wa ka Ngobeni
The police’s Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) is probing the mysterious death of a man who shot himself in a police cell this week after being arrested for a minor crime.
Police claim that Francois Hulscher (30), from Cape Town, pumped a bullet from a 9mm pistol into his head just minutes after he was locked up in a police cell in Roodepoort, on his own, on Monday.
The officers who arrested him say Hulscher was in Gauteng because he was on the run for “driving someone’s car without permission”.
The police version is that Hulscher was seen driving a 4×4 Nissan by an unidentified witness, who reported him to the crime stop police unit.
The unit in turn tipped off the flying squad, which arrested Hulscher in a Roodepoort flat.
Hulscher had gone through a routine search before he was locked up. He was rushed to hospital where he later died of severe head injuries.
West Rand police representative Sergeant Yolande Bouwer said police officials are conducting investigations.
Bouwer said the police have brought in ballistics experts to help run their internal probe.
“Departmental steps will be instituted should negligence be found,” she said.
Bouwer confirmed that the police watchdog is probing the case. The ICD could not comment at the time of going to press.
The police said they are also trying to establish the relationship between Hulscher and the owner of the car.
It not yet clear why Hulscher killed himself.
Police have yet to answer how Hulscher managed to take the gun into the cell.
Normally at police stations a suspect must be searched, and items like belts and shoelaces are removed before the suspect is taken to the cells to minimise the risk of suicide.
“It is alleged that all personal items were handed over by the suspect prior to detention, but that he had possibly concealed the pistol down the front of his pants, thus avoiding detection,” said Bouwer.
A policeman, who did not want to be named, said it is impossible that a suspect could have taken the gun into the cell.
“I mean, even a razor can hardly make it into the cells, so what about a gun? Our police are not well trained. How can someone take a gun into a cell and the police fail to find it?” asked the policeman.
According to ICD statistics, by the end of 1997 the known deaths of suspects held in police cells and during police action doubled from 226 in 1995 to 500.