New details emerge in the Entebbe Expressway shooting

Security investigations have unearthed new details in the gruesome shooting along the Kampala- Entebbe Expressway on Thursday night.

Joshua Ruhegyera Nteyireho and Merina Tumukunde who were travelling in a Toyota Prado registration number UAW 534B headed to Mpala were shot dead by unknown assailants at Namibgirwa bridge.

Security later arrested David Taremwa, a police officer attached to the Counter-Terrorism unit on suspicion that he has knowledge of the killers.

According to the police spokesperson, Fred Enanga, footage from CCTV cameras along the Entebbe Expressway indicated that the deceased had moved between Kajjansi and Entebbe side four times on the fateful day.

“Their vehicle was captured on our CCTV cameras moving four times between 8 pm and 10 pm,”Enanga said.

It was found out after interrogating the Counter-Terrorism police officer that the deceased was on the fateful day supposed to receive first installment for a motor vehicle, a Toyota Harrier from Zzana .

According to the police mouthpiece, the police officer and Joshua Nteyireho were close friends and it explains why the police officer left his beat where he had been deployed to escort the deceased.

He noted that they have got additional information from a hotel along Entebbe road indicating that Nteyireho had booked two separate rooms.

The Shooting

At the crime scene, Nteyireho’s body was lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound in the head whereas his left hand was clutching an AK47 rifle.

On examination, the rifle number UG POL56-3100699022697 was found to belong to police, raising a number of questions.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that Nteyireho had a gun but it is still puzzling whether it was the gun that was found at the crime scene.

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Investigations have found out that Merina Tumukunde, the female occupant in the car was shot from the right-hand side of the vehicle in which they were traveling in.

“When you look at injuries that Merina(Tumukunde) had, it shows that she had a bullet wound through the right-hand side of the neck and it came out from the left side between the mouth and the ear. This means the bullet came through the lower neck upwards,”Enanga said.

This assertion could partly help to crack the puzzle on how both doors on the right-hand side of the Toyota Prado were found open.

“This means somebody (shooter) was on the right-hand side,”Enanga added.

Police said they are ruling out claims that Joshua Nteyireho had shot himself noting that the site of the wound on his body showed that some other person could have shot him.

The Police mouthpiece explained that the entry of the bullet into Nteyireho’s body was on the left-hand side above the ear and exited at the ride hand side of the cheek.

“If you are to commit suicide, you can’t carry the gun at that angle and direction.”

He insisted that the person who fired the shots was at close range adding that despite the vehicle facing Entebbe side, Nteyireho was shot facing the opposite side.

How did the vehicle stop?

At the crime scene, along the Entebbe Expressway, the deceased’s vehicle, a Toyota Prado was parked well on the roadside with its engine and lights switched on indicating that he stopped normally.

The circumstances under which this happened are still puzzling.

When Police rushed at the scene, the driver’s door and the one behind his seat were wide open, an indicator that the vehicle’s occupants could have opened them.

It is still a puzzle that needs to be cracked on who opened both doors and for what reason.

The police spokesperson said they are investigating the circumstances under which the vehicle came to a halt at the spot where the crime was committed.

He said investigators are scratching their heads to find out whether someone known to the victims was at the spot and waved them down.

“The vehicle was securely parked, engine running and headlights on. The investigators will be trying to find out if there was a third party involved in the murder.”

According to Enanga, investigators will also try to find out if there was a person known to the victims with whom they had made an appointment to have him picked from the spot they were killed.

“Our focus is now on what transpired along the expressway,”Enanga said.