On Monday, May 11, unidentified armed assailants killed a pastor during an attack on a neighborhood in Muyumbu Sector, Rwamagana District, and stole mobile telephones. Bony Bahati, Executive Secretary of Muyumbu Sector, told The New Times that the attack happened between 7:30 pm to 8:00 pm and was carried out by approximately 10 men who seemed to have guns. The official said, however, some of the attackers clearly had fake guns, but one of them had a pistol, and he used it to fire a shot into the air to scare residents off. The deceased was identified as Theoneste Bapfakurera, a local pastor who preached at Hope of Jesus church. The assailants used knives to stab Bapfakurera several times and later used a hammer that delivered the fatal blow on his head, according to the sector leader. Apparently, they did not come to rob anything, but they came to kill that one person because they killed him and let four others who were in the same house live, he said. It is clear that the victim was their only target but we are not sure what the motive of the killing was, Bahati added. The four people who were in the same room with the pastor had their phones confiscated such that they do not inform anybody. Since the gruesome incident, different security organs and district officials have been visiting the village to comfort them, as the hunt for the criminals goes on.
