Tanzanian police shoot dead double child killer suspect

By Kizito Makoye

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania

Police have shot dead a man accused of abducting and drowning two children in the northern city of Arusha, they said Thursday.

Samson Petro, who was alleged to have drowned Moureen Daudi, six, and three-year-old Ikram Salim in a cesspit, was killed Wednesday morning as he tried to escape, Arusha Regional Police Commander Charles Mkumbo told reporters.

He was taking police to the site of other child abductions when he was shot.

Petro had confessed to the killings in the city’s Olasiti district following his arrest near Lake Victoria on Sept. 2, police said. The children were abducted two weeks earlier, with 4.5 million Tanzanian shillings ($2,010) demanded for their release.

Tanzania has been shocked by a serious of abductions for ransom in recent months.