Security Guard Shoots Self Dead at Fort Portal Bank

A security guard attached to Pinnacle Security Limited has died after shooting himself at the Bank of Africa branch in Fort Portal City on Tuesday evening, in what colleagues believe may have been triggered by personal troubles.

Robert Tumusiime had just arrived for his evening shift at the bank when he stepped into a nearby room to change into his work uniform. Minutes later, a gunshot rang out. He was found with a bullet wound to the forehead.

Mohammed Katusabe, an eyewitness who was in the adjacent room at the time, said he heard the shot at around 6:20 pm. What made the incident more chilling, he said, was that Tumusiime had moments earlier handed over his mobile phone to a workmate, instructing him to tell anyone who called that he was unavailable.

“That act of leaving the phone behind before going to that room is what is disturbing many of us,” one colleague said.

A fellow guard who works with the deceased said the tragedy may have been connected to personal or family difficulties, though he could not provide specifics.

The incident has reignited concerns about the mental health of private security guards in the region. Jamal Hakim, another Fort Portal-based guard, said the profession carries burdens that rarely get attention from employers.

“Guards go through a lot. Delayed salaries, no one to talk to, and then they are handed a gun,” Hakim said. He called on security companies to establish platforms where guards can be heard, ensure salaries are paid on time, and make counseling services available. He also cautioned colleagues against heavy drinking and drug use, warning that such habits worsen whatever problems a person is already carrying.

Police responded to the scene and transported Tumusiime’s body to Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital, where a postmortem examination is expected to be carried out.

The death comes barely weeks after a separate and alarming incident in Fort Portal, in which a guard working with GT Security Experts opened fire on a police officer before eventually being subdued. The two incidents within a short span have raised fresh questions about how security firms manage the welfare and mental health of their armed personnel.