BULAWAYO – A 34-year-old female police detective died from gunshot wounds in a confrontation with armed robbery suspects in Bulawayo’s Pumula South suburb on Thursday night.
Cassandra Hove was shot dead in the Habek area at around 9PM as she and colleagues from the Criminal Investigations Department’s Homicide division pursued a gang wanted for armed robbery.
She was a member of an all-female team of detectives known within the police as Team Lozikeyi, named after Ndebele queen Lozikeyi Dlodlo, who was one of King Lobengula’s wives.
Police chief Commissioner General Stephen Mutamba expressed his condolences to the Hove family and has ordered a comprehensive review of her death in the shooting, police spokesman Commissioner Paul Nyathi said.
Law enforcement sources said the suspect in Hove’s killing was still on the run as of Friday but police were holding three men in connection with her death. They are due to appear in court on Saturday.
Police have launched an appeal for information over the police officer’s killing.
Hove, who was born in Mberengwa on November 5, 1990, was a mother of three daughters and a boy.
Friends said Hove had been actively pursuing a career away from the police, possibly in banking, after recently gaining qualifications in forensic accounting.
_Do you have information about the whereabouts of Detective Constable Cassandra Hove’s killer? Call the police on 0242703631 or WhatsApp +263712800197_