Four in hospital after allegedly shot by security guards

By HEZRON KISING and JIMMY KALEBE
FOUR men were hospitalised in Lae yesterday with gunshot wounds after guards from a security firm allegedly opened fire at a crowd at the Bumayong market.
The four were taken to the Angau Hospital by police.
Police confirmed that three guards were detained and two guns confiscated yesterday afternoon.
A police source said more than five shots were fired.
Lae Met Supt Chief Supt Chris Kunyanban is out of the province and could not be reached for comments.
Joe Oliver from Menyamya claimed that the guards provoked the people when they drove into the market upsetting tables and vendors’ items.
“The crowd retaliated by throwing sticks and stones at the guards,” he said.
“The guards responded by firing shots at the crowd.”
He later found out that he had been shot on the right thigh.
Kenneth Sailas, from Kabwum, said the driver nearly hit people at the market.
“The main provocation was the security guards,” Sailas said.
“When they saw the crowd become rowdy, they used firearms.”
Bumayong community leader Jambo Nans alleged that three security guards shot at the crowd.
Meanwhile, Bumayong Lutheran Secondary School principal Daniel Saya denied a social media report that a student was shot by a security guard manning the school gate.
Saya said the security firm mentioned no longer manned the school gates.