Man shot in Mundri over flag etiquette dispute

Noah Issa, Mundri

A man was injured in Mundri West county yesterday evening following a dispute over flag etiquette. It is reported that the man failed to adhere to national rules that state passers by must stand to attention during the raising or lowering of the national flag.

After failing to stop his motorcycle while a prison officer was lowering the national flag 200 metres away, the man was shot in the leg near the Mundri prison service headquarters.

Mundri, the location of the alleged shooting.

Speaking to media earlier today, prison spokesman Lt. DoubleSeven De Clement said the victim obtained minor leg injuries after failing to comply with a routine police stop.

'Yesterday at 6pm someone was riding while a police officer was lowering the national flag, and this man named Benson could not stop, so one of the national prison service officers shot at him on the leg. Now the person has been taken to Lui hospital'.

Lt. De Clement added that Mundri law enforcement are waiting for the suspect to be discharged from hospital before commencing any investigation. It is suspected the victim might be either disabled or deaf.

‘We are still waiting for him to be discharged from the hospital. If he gets well, we will start with investigation whether the victim was a deaf person or what happened’, the investigator said.

Speaking on behalf of Lui hospital, local doctor Solvia M.D has confirmed they received a person with leg injuries, who is now under medical care.

The hospital complex in Lui where the man - named only as Benson - is receiving medical treatment.

‘The patient arrived yesterday evening with leg wounds, but apparently there is no fracture and he will improve very soon', Solvia reported.

Mundri West county police and criminal investigation department has appealed to the people of Mundri specifically and South Sudan generally to adhere and respect rules concerning the national flag.

'People should respect the rules and regulations of the country’s national flag, when they are dropping the Flag, no one should move, even an animal, that is how it is in the law’, De Clement said.

The incident comes after the shooting of a Kenyan national, who was killed while driving past Dr. John Gerang’s mausoleum when the flag was being lowered.