Cop shooting 'pure criminality'

2009-11-11 08:38

Johannesburg - The killing of a 3-year-old child by an apparently trigger-happy policeman was "pure criminality", national police commissioner Bheki Cele's spokesperson said in a report on Wednesday.

"People are listening to what the commissioner is not saying," said Nonkululeko Mbatha.

"What (Cele) said was that police must act decisively and accordingly when faced with danger. Police can't die with guns in their pockets.

"But it is pure criminality when police shoot a street vendor or a 3-year-old child. That child wasn't even running around. Where was the threat?

"Police can't be shooting at innocent people, and those who do will be dealt with accordingly," said Mbatha.

Three-year-old Atlegang Phalane died outside a relative's house in Klipfontein View Extension 2, north-east of Johannesburg on Saturday.

Police apparently mistook his uncle for a criminal and fired shots at his car. They also claimed they mistook a pipe the boy was holding for a gun.

- SAPA