Borkena
Toronto -A defendant shot dead a presiding judge and his ex-wife during a court hearing on a family property dispute in Ethiopia’s Oromia region.
The incident occurred on Thursday in Holeta, about 42 kilometres from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, DW Amharic reported on Friday.
The family case had been going on for about a year, according to Tesfaye Megersa, lawyer for the deceased. The court passed a ruling about two weeks ago.
The proceeding on Thursday was convened to address the implementation of the ruling from two weeks ago.
Aknaw Bekele, the defendant, pulled a handgun after hearing the ruling on the implementation and shot his ex-wife, Almaz, to death.
They had several properties together. The implementation ruling was for the money in the defendant’s bank account to be frozen and the properties to be shared equally.
Judge Worke Fekensa was reportedly screaming when she noticed that Aknaw was preparing to shoot again, according to an eyewitness account from a lawyer who rushed out of the courtroom in panic, fearing for his life.
This time, he was firing at the presiding judge. The lawyer told DW Amharic that he heard multiple gunshots.
The couple lived together for several decades. They have eight children together. The youngest is about 17 years old.
The slain judge was laid to rest on Friday.
According to the Oromia Regional Supreme Court, there were other suspects in the murder case. They are in custody, it said, without specifying their number.
The suspect was apparently trying to kill himself as well. He shot himself and is said to be wounded. No further details were available on whether his condition is life-threatening.
“It is not acceptable under any circumstance,” the court said in a statement shared on its social media page.
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