A three-wheeler driver was shot dead near the “Kalu Palama” — the Black Bridge — in Dematagoda on Thursday afternoon, police said.
Police Spokesman F.U. Wootler said the victim was a 50-year-old resident of Udugama, Galle, and that he was killed with a pistol, NewsFirst reported. Preliminary inquiries found the man had previously served in the Sri Lanka Army.
Investigators suspect the gunman was travelling in the rear seat of the three-wheeler before opening fire — a detail neither of the other outlets reporting the killing carried.
Where the accounts differ
The three filings do not agree on where the man died. NewsFirst said he “succumbed to his injuries at the scene.” The Daily Mirror reported that he was wounded in the shooting, rushed to hospital, and died while receiving treatment. Hiru News placed the death at the Colombo National Hospital, saying he died while being admitted for treatment.
Two of the three outlets therefore describe a death in or on the way to hospital rather than at the roadside. None of them reconciles the difference.
The Daily Mirror said further investigations are under way to identify the gunman and establish a motive. The victim has not been named by any outlet, and no arrest has been reported.
Update, 18 September: two teams assigned
NewsFirst reported on Friday that two special police teams have been assigned to the investigation.
The same account gives Police Spokesman F.U. Wootler’s rank as Assistant Superintendent of Police, and states that the gunman opened fire before fleeing the scene — the first indication of how the shooter left. It otherwise restates the position of the day before: a 50-year-old from Udugama in the Galle District, shot with a pistol on Thursday afternoon, with the gunman suspected of having travelled as a rear-seat passenger.
No arrest has been reported, the victim is still unnamed, and no motive has been given.
Context
The killing is the latest in a run of shootings in and around Colombo this month, following a shooting in Kollupitiya that injured two and the killing of a 74-year-old man in Boralesgamuwa in early September. Police have not said whether the Dematagoda killing is linked to any organised criminal group.
