The incident occurred at around 1 am last week at Hippo Valley Estates where Marko Ndlovu (53) and the now deceased Happison Shayanewako (30) were employed as guards.

The two were employed to guard the fields at night from wild animals that were wrecking havoc in the area destroying maize and sugarcane crops.

Acting police spokesperson for Masvingo Province, Assistant Inspector Prosper Mugauri, confirmed the shooting.“I can confirm to you that police in Chiredzi arrested Ndlovu who was employed as a guard who shot and killed his counterpart after he mistook him for a wild animal.

He shot him with a shotgun on the shoulder and he died on the spot,” he said.Asst Insp Mugauri said police had since arrested Ndlovu who is now in police custody facing charges of murder.

He said when the incident occurred the two guards were armed with shotguns that they were supposed to use to scare away the marauding animals and were taking turns to check the animals in the fields from the guardhouse.

Around 1 am, Ndlovu left the small guardhouse, as it was his turn to go and do the perimeter checks in the fields. However, while he was out on routine checks Shayanewako decided to follow him using the other way.

Marko was startled when he heard the rustling sounds from the field as Shayanewako was coming from the other direction.He stopped and without saying a word opened fire at the direction where the sound was coming from thereby shooting and killing Shayanewako on the spot.

A report was made to the police who attended the scene and arrested Ndlovu who is still in police custody assisting with investigations while Shayanewako’s body was taken to Chiredzi District Hospital mortuary.