Tanzanian gunman who killed police was on suicide mission: Police

By Kizito Makoye

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AA) - A gunman who last week killed three police officers and a security guard in Tanzania’s port city of Dar es Salaam was a terrorist on a suicide mission, officials said Thursday.

Camillius Wambura, the director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), said that Hamza Mohammed, 31, lived a private life and had every indicator of being a terrorist.

Wambura told reporters that the investigation focused on three main issues: identifying the gunman, motive, and finding out if he acted alone or had accomplices.

Mohammed went on a shooting rampage near the French Embassy in the posh Oyster Bay suburb on Aug. 25 after killing two police officers and seizing two assault rifles. He had been teaching himself about terrorism on social media.

“He has been for a long time learning different things related to terrorism through social media, which shows al-Shabaab acts and other terror groups such as [Daesh] ISIS and many other lessons through those groups,” said Wambura.

He said Mohammed was a highly radicalized man who was ready to do anything to defend his religion.

Police rebuffed allegations that the gunman was retaliating after two officers robbed him of 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of gold worth more than 400 million Tanzanian shillings ($172,500).

"The gunman did not possess any money at the time of our investigations, and he was not a wealthy miner as some people claim," said Wambura.