Gulu Central High School Students pin police for deliberately shooting colleague

By Our Reporter

15^th March 2022

A week after the death of Gabriel Rwotomiya 17, a senior three-student of Gulu Central High School in Gulu City, new details have emerged on the circumstances that led to his shooting.

Rwotomiya was found dead on a tree branch within the school compound on March 6 at about 8:30 pm shortly after security personnel fired live bullets to quell a student’s strike.

The students rampaged after the school management stopped the live broadcast of a premier league match against Manchester City and Manchester United from Edinburg in the United Kingdom.

Police said in a statement that the security personnel fired nine bullets in the process of calming down the protest and a stray bullet hit the deceased killing him instantly.

But some students who witnessed the incident say their colleague was deliberately gunned down. A student, who didn’t want his identity revealed for fear of reprisals, says that the chaos ensued after teachers stopped them from watching a match between Manchester United and Manchester City. He says they were told the football match was late and instead advised to read books.

According to the source, the decision angered some students who reacted by pelting stones at the window panes and rooftops. They were later allowed to watch the football match to minimize the damage. He however notes that while normalcy had returned, security personnel comprising the army and police intervened triggering more unrest from the students.

“When the soldiers came, students began rioting and destroying the school bus, breaking window glasses, the computer lab and even attempting to loot the school canteen,” he said. He says the soldiers started beating up students forcing many to scatter for safety that is how Gabriel Rwotomiya ran to the tree where he was shot from.

Caroline Alarokuma, the deceased’s mother says that the postmortem shows the deceased was shot on the left backside and the bullet followed the spinal cord and exited through the lower jaw, causing the victim to bleed to death. Alarokuma says she is dissatisfied with the police reports and demands more investigations and relevant reports from the school authorities.

Dr. David Onen, the Director of Gulu Central High School, says that the management is set for a dialogue with the deceased family to help them pursue justice for their loss. Onen also reveals that they will be submitting their incident report to the Resident City Commissioner’s Office on what exactly happened.

The Fourth Infantry Division Spokesperson, Capt. Hassan Ahmed Kato says two soldiers have since been arrested following the incident, adding that they will appear before the court-martial once investigations are complete.

The suspects are Private Denise Ochora, and Lt. John Oryema currently being detained at the Fourth Infantry Division barracks in Gulu City.