The Uganda Police Force is investigating a shooting incident that occurred on Saturday, 8 August 2026, at about 1:00 p.m. in Chemusebe Village, Kapchemoken Parish, Brim Sub-County, Bukwo District.
Preliminary findings indicate that officers from Giriki Police Station in Kween District travelled to Bukwo to effect an arrest. They coordinated with officers at Riwo Sub-County Police Station, who were joined by an officer familiar with the area, before proceeding to Brim Sub-County.
At Chemusebe Trading Centre, the officers reportedly found the suspect washing a motorcycle near a stream. Upon seeing the officers, the suspect allegedly abandoned the motorcycle and fled. The motorcycle was subsequently impounded.
It is further alleged that, as the officers engaged area leaders and relatives who were claiming the motorcycle, the deceased, identified as Mutakan, approached the officers while armed with a panga and stones. He allegedly threatened the officers, struck one of them with a stone and continued advancing despite attempts by his mother and other people at the scene to restrain him.
Preliminary accounts indicate that warning shots were fired in an attempt to deter the attack. However, the deceased allegedly continued advancing and was subsequently shot. He was rushed to Bukwo General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation. Four (4) persons, including the officers involved in the operation, are currently being questioned. The investigation will establish the circumstances under which the firearms were discharged and whether the force used was lawful, necessary and proportionate.
While the circumstances of this particular incident are still being established, the Uganda Police Force strongly cautions members of the public against attacking, threatening, confronting or attempting to disarm police officers who are carrying out lawful duties.
Such actions place the lives of police officers, suspects and other members of the public at serious risk and may result in avoidable injuries or loss of life.
The danger posed by mob attacks on police officers is real. In April 2025, Police Constable Suleiman Chemonges was killed by a mob while deployed to provide security at a burial in Ibanda District.
Similarly, on 18 May 2025, Police Constable John Bosco Naturinda was killed after an arrest operation in Tecik Village, Ngai Sub-County, Oyam District, escalated into mob violence. Naturinda and two colleagues had gone to arrest a suspect when members of the community reportedly intervened and attempted to disarm them. During the ensuing struggle, a civilian was fatally injured, following which the officers were attacked by a mob. Naturinda was killed, while his two colleagues sustained injuries.
Members of the public are therefore urged to remain calm and exercise restraint during police operations, comply with lawful instructions and use established legal and administrative channels to raise complaints or challenge police conduct.
No individual or group should take the law into their own hands.
The Uganda Police Force remains committed to ensuring that all allegations of unlawful conduct by its officers are investigated and that officers operate within the law, while equally protecting them from unlawful attacks in the course of performing their duties.
