4 cops fingered for Nathaniel Julies' killing, no arrests

Julies died on Wednesday at Chris Baragwanath Hospital following claims he has been shot by a patrolling policeman.

The circumstances leading to the shooting remain unclear, but the matter is under investigation by Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid). 

The police watchdog visited the teen’s family on Friday. 

“Investigative Director of IPID went to the family recently so what is happening is that she went to see the family because it’s human to just let the people know that IPID is handling it and just to interact with people on a human level,” says spokesperson Ndileka Cola. 

Cola says the investigations got off to a rough start when the protesting community clashed with police on Thursday. 

“She wanted to appeal to also appeal to the family because they are also members of the community and if that community is toyi-toying on their behalf, they must also cooperate with the process,” she adds. 

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Tensions ran high on Thursday when rubber bullets were fired to disperse the angry community. Several protesters were arrested during the clash. "At the moment, the commission is continuing to monitor the situation on the ground. Yesterday we were able to facilitate the release of some of the protesters," Jones adds.

None of the cops present during the murder have been arrested. 

“The autopsy has been taken, the investigation process has started. We need all the other information, ballistics, the gun that was used, the powder, the scene has been visited and all that information is going to be integrated,” Cola explains. 

“This is what is going to assist Ipid to put forward a report to the NPA and that will recommend to the SAPS what should happen.” 

Following concerns of the scene being contaminated during the violent community protests, Ipid says experts and specialists will reconstruct the scene of the murder for better insight into the incident.