Cape Verde Official: Police nab suspect in slaying of 11
LISBON, Portugal – Police in Cape Verde captured Wednesday a soldier suspected of killing 11 people at a military barracks in the West African island nation, an official at Cape Verde’s Defence Ministry said.
The suspect was arrested after a 24-hour manhunt, spokeswoman Edna Pinto told The Associated Press by telephone. She had no other details.
State broadcaster Radio Cabo Verde said the suspect was captured in the Paiol neighbourhood of Praia, the capital of the former Portuguese colony. The broadcaster and other local media identified him as 22-year-old Manuel Antonio Silva Ribeiro.
The government previously said a disgruntled soldier who had gone missing was suspected of gunning down eight soldiers and three civilians, including two Spaniards, on Tuesday. It said in a statement that “personal motives” inspired the attack, ruling out an attempted coup or any connection with violence associated with drug trafficking that has recently plagued the archipelago.
The bodies were at a morgue in the capital Praia for autopsies, Radio Cabo Verde said.
The government decreed two days of national mourning from Wednesday, when national flags will fly at half-mast.
The Cape Verde archipelago, some 600 kilometres (370 miles) off Senegal, is made up of 10 islands. Around 500,000 people live there.
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