A British traveler says he drove roughly 300 miles across Ethiopia with a bullet lodged in his foot, only to be shot at again by the country’s own federal police.
Quick Take
- Charles Wright, a British overlander, says armed militants shot him in the foot during an earlier attack in Ethiopia.
- He then drove about 300 miles seeking medical help while the bullet remained in his foot.
- Wright says Ethiopian federal police opened fire on his vehicle with AK-47s after he took a wrong turn near the Awash/Djibouti junction.
- He claims police detained him for days and robbed him before he was released.
- He is now warning other travelers to avoid Ethiopia entirely.
A Long Drive With a Bullet Still Inside
Charles Wright has driven across much of Africa as part of an overland trip. He says armed militants shot him in the foot before he reached Ethiopia’s Awash region. Instead of stopping, Wright says he kept driving roughly 300 miles in search of medical care, all while the bullet stayed lodged in his foot.
That decision put him on a road near the Awash and Djibouti junction. Wright says he made a wrong turn there. According to his account, armed men then emerged and opened fire on his vehicle. He later said the shooters were Ethiopian federal police using AK-47 rifles.
Detention and Alleged Theft Followed the Shooting
Wright says the ordeal did not end when the shooting stopped. He claims police detained him for several days afterward. During that time, he says officers robbed him. Wright has not released independent documents or video confirming the detention, but his account has circulated widely on social media.
No Ethiopian government agency has publicly responded to Wright’s specific claims. His story rests on his own statements, shared through social media posts and video interviews. That does not make the account untrue, but it means the public record currently reflects one side of events.
Ethiopia’s Known Risks to Travelers
Wright’s claims fit into a wider pattern of danger for foreign visitors in parts of Ethiopia. The U.S. State Department currently tells Americans to reconsider travel to the country because of armed conflict, civil unrest, crime, and kidnapping risk in border areas. The United Kingdom’s own travel advice notes a small number of arbitrary detention cases involving British nationals.
Foreigners Not Usually Targeted, but Attacks Still Happen
British officials say foreigners generally are not singled out for violence in Ethiopia. Still, muggings and theft have been reported. Just last month, armed bandits killed two Turkish tourists and their Ethiopian driver in the country’s southwest, showing that danger to visitors is not hypothetical.
🇪🇹A tourist in Ethiopia says federal police emerged from the bushes and opened fire on his vehicle after he took a wrong turn.
Charles Wright, already nursing a bullet wound in his foot from militants, was forced to run through the desert on his injured foot while officers…
— NewsForce (@Newsforce) August 3, 2026
Past U.S. government human rights reporting on Ethiopia has also documented abuse of people held in police custody. Reports have described torture and mistreatment of detainees by security officials, despite constitutional protections against such practices. That history gives Wright’s claim of being robbed by police a troubling context, even without independent confirmation of his specific case.
A Warning Aimed at Future Travelers
Wright says his goal now is to warn others. He has told followers on social media to avoid Ethiopia after what he experienced. His story adds to a growing list of traveler accounts describing violence, detention, or theft tied to security forces in unstable regions of the country. For readers watching how governments treat ordinary citizens abroad, it is a reminder that official protection is not guaranteed everywhere, and that armed authority can turn dangerous fast, even for someone already badly hurt.
Sources:
mirror.co.uk, vidmax.com, en.wikipedia.org, clickondetroit.com, truewestmagazine.com, news3lv.com, osac.gov
