Bombo shooting

The Bombo shooting was a mass murder that occurred in Bombo, Uganda on March 9, 2013, when UPDF private Patrick Okot Odoch killed ten people and wounded at least two others in a bar with an AK-47, before fleeing. He was arrested in Oyam District ten days later and charged with murder and attempted murder. On June 4 he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 90 years in prison.

Background
Army deserters, thieves and gunmen attacked Mbuya barracks on March 5 to steal arms. Odoch had previously been arrested for consuming bhang Simon Peter Otenyan killed two colleagues at Bombo barracks on February 4.

In the night of March 6, Odoch, a private attached to Bombo Barracks, wanted to rape Grace Chandiru, 14-year-old daughter of Sgt Onesmus Odule and his wife Florence at the barracks. He fled when she raised alarm. The girl's parents reported the incident to police on March 7. Odoch promised revenge. Two days prior to the shooting Odoch entered the bar, locked the doors, before opening them again and leaving, probably planning his shooting.

Odoch and a colleague entered the bar with Adules present at 9pm on March 8, the owner told him to drink somewhere else, referring him to an incident during the previous night.

Shooting
During the night of March 8, Odoch was on duty at the 23rd Air Defence Regiment. He left his post armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and 30 rounds of ammunition and arrived at Yumbe boys' bar in Pakele on March 9 at 12:12am. Upon entering he opened fire on the people present, killing Onesmus Odule, his wife Florence, the owner of the bar Amina Aseru, as well as four other soldiers and two civilians, while two people were wounded.

Odoch then left and went towards Gogonya, 1.5km away from the bar, where he killed another person. Before finally fleeing he also robbed Halima Lukiya, stealing her hand bag, a mobile phone, and 2000 USh.

Nine of his victims died on the spot, while David Komakech died one hour later from excessive loss of blood. There were 23 spent rounds recovered by police from the crime scene.

Victims
Wounded were Joyce Asiyo, 44, and Ismail Akbar, 14, son of Amina Aseru. Reportedly Sgt. Francis Ogugu was also injured.

After the shooting the army offered every family of the victims 2,150,000 million shillings as condolence and for burial arrangements, as well as coffins and transportation of the dead to their ancestral homes.

Manhunt and arrest
Following the shooting security measures were tightened, and all army deserters in the area were ordered to leave, or they would risk arrest. Also a night curfew was imposed, forcing all businesses to close at 10pm, and limiting movement from 11pm onward.

Joint forces of police and army searched for Odoch and laid traps to capture him. The search operations resulted in the finding of Odoch's uniform on March 10, and on March 14 of the rifle used in the shooting, which was recovered near a factory in Nakatonya Village in Nyimbwa Sub-county and was still loaded with three rounds.

When Odoch called his colleagues to ask for financial help, investigators managed to track his mobile phone. He was arrested between March 18 and March 19 at Abere Trading Centre in Ngai Sub-county in Oyam District, brought to the army barracks in Lira and charged with murder, attempted murder, misuse of a firearm, aggravated robbery, and failing to protect war materials, before being transferred back to Bombo, where he was held to be court-martialed in a public trial.

After denying all charges raised against him Odoch was put in remand at Makindye Military Prison until April 17. Preliminary hearings for the case began on April 22 at Bombo Town Health Centre. The maximum punishment Odoch is facing for the crime is a death sentence.