A 17-year-old boy was killed in a police shooting in Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna district early Tuesday after officers opened fire on a van that allegedly failed to stop at a checkpoint, police said.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Feb. 10 near the Allapiddy junction in the Kayts police division. Police said officers had signaled a suspicious van to stop, but the vehicle ignored orders and sped toward Mandaitivu.
According to police, information about the fleeing van was relayed to a jeep carrying the Kayts Officer-in-Charge, who attempted to intercept the vehicle. When the van continued to flee despite repeated attempts to stop it, officers first fired warning shots into the air, police said.
As the vehicle failed to halt, police opened fire at the van in an attempt to stop it. The driver was struck by gunfire and was rushed to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital, where he later died, police said.
The deceased was identified as a 17-year-old resident of the Vaddukoddai area.
Police said the rear number plate of the van had been removed. Two other individuals who were inside the vehicle at the time of the incident were taken into custody.
Further investigations are being conducted by the Kayts Police and the Jaffna Divisional Criminal Investigation Unit, police said. (Newswire)
