Kraaifontein police constable Christopher Mouton, 30, of Elsies River, was killed after he was allegedly shot accidentally by his colleague outside the police station on Wednesday April 19.
Kraaifontein Community Police Forum (CPF) chairman Mawethu Sila said the officers were in a police van when the gun discharged accidentally.
He said the constable whose gun discharged had been in the passenger seat.
“He was sitting at the back and the other was in the driver’s seat,” Mr Sila said. “He was trying to put the gun in a safe place when it went off.”
He said the CPF were not investigating because it was being dealt with by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).
According to an internal Tygerberg cluster WhatsApp group message seen by the Northern News, the vehicle was at the police station, “outside the ops room”, when Constable Mouton was shot.
IPID spokesman Moses Dlamini said no one had been arrested but the investigation was ongoing.
He said there had been two other officers in the vehicle at the time.
The bullet had entered the left side of Constable Mouton’s back and exited his chest on the same side, Mr Dlamini said. He was declared dead at the scene.
The guns of all the officers in the car were confiscated for ballistic testing, he said.
The Daily Voice reported that Constable Mouton is survived by his wife, Samantha, and two children, the youngest of which is three-months old.
