The deaths of four individuals at the hands of Pakistani police over the weekend have sparked public outrage.

Police in Pakistan claimed to have killed four “terrorists” linked to the Islamic State (IS) in an “intelligence-based” gunfight near the city of Sahiwal in Punjab province on Saturday. It was only when an injured nine-year-old boy, Umair Khalil, spoke to the media that the story began to unravel. Three of his family—his father, mother, and sister—and their friend were allegedly killed in an extrajudicial “encounter” by the country’s elite police Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).

The family was traveling from the provincial capital Lahore to attend a wedding in a car driven by their friend when police allegedly stopped them and opened fire. “The terrorists retaliated by firing at the CTD officials following which a shootout ensued. Once the firing stopped, four people were found dead, reportedly as a result of firing by their own accomplices, while three terrorists had fled the scene,” read the CTD statement.

Umair Khalil’s narration of the sequence events contradicted the police version. “My father told them to take our money and not to shoot their guns. But they started firing,” he said in a video that went viral on social media. Umair and two younger sisters who also survived were abandoned at a gas station near the spot where the shooting allegedly occurred.

News and bystander-filmed footage of the incident provoked a public outcry, forcing the government to act. Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted to say that he was “shocked at seeing the traumatized children who saw their parents shot before their eyes.” Khan claimed that “swift action” would be taken and called for “exemplary punishment” to be meted out to those found guilty.

An investigation team constituted to inquire into the shooting submitted its preliminary report on Tuesday, holding police officials responsible for the atrocity.

Instances of police abuse and extrajudicial killings are not uncommon in Pakistan, and the perpetrators of atrocities often escape accountability. According to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, police personnel in Pakistan killed about 2,000 people in 2015. “Security forces committed serious violations during counterterrorism operations, including torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings,” HRW said in its 2018 report.