Unknown gunmen on Sunday night attacked a cattle camp located just about 500 meters from Maridi town along the Rumbek road killing seven cows and injuring six. More shooting in the morning resulted in the killing of at least one man.
According to local sources the gunmen came to the camp at around 10 pm when the cattle owners were not at the camp and started shooting at the cattle killing seven and injuring six before running away without taking any cattle.
One suspect in this shooting was arrested the same night and taken to the Maridi police station for investigation. This morning security agents went to the scene for investigation and after they left the camp shooting erupted again.
One young man was confirmed dead and people ran from the town to take refuge elsewhere.
The random shooting terrorized citizens, a source said. The shooting started early morning. One source said that one party involved in the shootings may be cattle owners from neighboring states who had ealier been asked to leave Western Equatoria State.
Maridi new market remains closed and all students left schools. A source reported some builings have been burned but this was not yet confirmed by additional sources.
Speaking early in the afternoon on Monday, a source in Maridi said the shooting had stopped but the situation was still tense.