WHAT was supposed to be a night of celebrating the end of school term for 17 Nyanga youngsters turned deadly.
Private security guards escorting a bread delivery truck allegedly opened fire, killing one of the youths and wounding seven others.
Families of the victims have described the incident as a case of mistaken identity.
But they have also accused the security guards of acting irresponsibly and negligently for firing at their children "without warning".
The victims, aged between 15 and 21, were at a friend’s home when about 13 private security guards escorting the delivery truck allegedly fired at the door of the shack before storming in during the early hours of June 26.
Nineteen-year-old Zenande Pokwana was shot in the head and died on the scene.
Friends, residents and relatives gathered at the community hall to pay their respects during a memorial service.
The teenager’s mother, Nyameka Pokwana, 42, said yesterday there was an attempt to rob the truck earlier that night and that the security guards were involved in a shoot-out with the alleged robbers.
This occurred while her son and the others were at a friend’s shack, she said.
As the alleged shooting between robbers and security guards took place across the street from her house, Pokwana called Zenande and warned him to stay indoors.
“One of them asked what the other was looking for. He replied that he was looking for his gun.”
The two men fled after spotting the guards approaching them. Four shots struck the wall of Pokwana’s house.
"Within 10 minutes of my call to Zenande, someone knocked on the door to inform us that our children had been shot,” she said.
According to Pokwana, her son had assured her during the phone call they were all fine and had locked themselves inside the shack.
The 16-year-old Lusindiso Mzi had a narrow escape, being hit in the back.
Mzi said one of his friends had been caught by the guards while walking home, and ordered to lead them to where he had come from.
“They did not ask questions. They just kicked down the door and started firing.
"I was sitting close to the door. I had seen two armed people dragging my friend towards the house. As I stood up, I was hit in the back by a bullet,” he said.
Siobhan O’Sullivan, spokesperson for Premier Ltd, the owners of the bread company, said Nyanga was known as a violent crime hot spot.
“The delivery driver was therefore alert when he saw four suspicious-looking individuals approaching his vehicle when he approached an intersection. He immediately sped away,” she said.
She said a shoot-out followed between the suspected robbers and members of a security company, who were later reinforced by the police.
“Premier cannot comment further on the matter as it is being investigated by the SAPS,” said O’Sullivan.
Police spokesperson Andre Traut said no one had been arrested.
Zenande will be buried in the Eastern Cape at the weekend.