By Bruce Asemota
Corporal Omar S Jallow, a soldier serving at the Armed Forces Military Training School yesterday told the court that he saw the assailant who shot and killed two PIU officers in September 2023, but could not recognise him.
Jallow told the court tying one Ousainaou Bojang for the killings that on that fateful day of the shooting, he was in the company of two other colleagues, Bakary Jarju and Ismaila Bojang and while they were eating around a building material shop at the Sukuta-Jabang Traffic- Light Junction, he heard a gunshot about 25 metres away .
He said at that point he had thought it was an accidental discharge, but as he looked around, he saw a PIU officer carrying an AK47 dropping down, followed by another gunshot, and other officer falling down.
The witness said he also saw a third PIU officer, a female, trying to leave the scene but was shot and the assailant started running.
The witness said he and his colleagues started chasing the assailant who ran towards Sukuta and as they were pursuing him, the assailant fired another shot.
Jallow said it was after the fifth gunshot that he returned to the scene and found out that the victims had been taken away, and empty cases of bullets lying about.
The witness told the court that the assailant was a marks-man who knows fire arms very well.
The witness said he had given a statement at the Anti-Crime Unit at Banjulinding.
Asked by the presiding judge Justice Jaiteh why didn’t he take the weapons of the dropping policemen to pursue the assailant instead of going after him empty handed, the witness replied that he had a “battle shock”.
Hearing continues on the 6th October.
