/ 14 January 2001

ZIMBABWE POLICE SHOOT SIX-YEAR-OLD

POLICE in Zimbabwe shot dead a six-year-old boy asleep in the back seat of his father’s car while they drove home on the outskirts of the capital, local media reported on Saturday. The shooting in Chitungwiza town, which took place earlier this week, was the second time Zimbabwe police allegedly killed innocent people in less than a month. Five plainclothes police driving an unmarked car pulled up along a vehicle which had just broken down and surrounded it late on Tuesday. Thinking the police – who did not identify themselves – were car thieves, the driver Noah Kazingachire, tried to drive off but the police fired a shot on the car which hit six-year-old Deven, who was in the back seat. Police said they suspected that Kazingachire and his wife Patience were criminals and so they opened fire. – AFP

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