12 Sep 2019

Gumare police are investigating an incident in which a 30-year-old man is suspected to have killed himself with a rifle on Monday evening.

The incident is said to have happened at Samotshoka cattle post near Gumare.

Speaking in an interview, Gumare police station commander, Superintendent Dennis Zilawe said it was reported that just before the incident, the deceased and his 59-year-old counterpart, were preparing to leave for the bush to gather the cattle.

Supt. Zilawe said, the 59-year-old man, who was the custodian of the rifle, told police that he had gone back into the house to drink water before their journey, leaving his counterpart and the gun outside.

While inside, the  deceased’s counterpart heard a gunshot and rushed outside only to find the man lying in a pool of blood with the gun beside his body.

The colleague is said to have screamed for help from neighbouring homesteads and the police were informed about the incident who collected the body.

Supt. Zilawe said the man  was certified dead upon arrival at Gumare primary hospital.

The station commander said police investigations were ongoing and the body of the deceased was taken for postmortem.

Supt Zilawe preliminary findings showed that the deceased did not show any signs of emotional distraction.

Meanwhile, Supt Zilawe explained farmers in Ngamiland usually carried guns in the bush for protection in case of an encounter with dangerous animals

He however indicated that incidents where people kill themselves with guns were uncommon in his policing area, adding that the Monday incident was the first of its kind this year. ENDS