Durban - Five would-be house robbers were gunned down by the police in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The men were killed in a shootout with police officers in Hilton, outside Pietermaritzburg.
A community member, who declined to be named, said she was on her way to work with others when they stumbled on the scene of the shooting. “The police had cordoned off the area, there was no public transport in and out of the area.
“As we walked towards the scene there were many police officers and five men were lying there dead,” she said.
Police spokesperson Thulani Zwane said they had received a tip-off that five men in a silver Mercedes-Benz vehicle were on their way to commit a crime in Hilton when officers intercepted them.
They spotted the car and gave chase, prompting the suspects to open fire at the police.
“The police retaliated and one police officer sustained a gunshot wound to the chin.
"He was taken to hospital for medical attention where he is in a stable condition,” said Zwane.
The police said they gave chase while the suspects continued shooting at them.
“The five suspects died at the scene during the exchange of gunfire.
"Five unlicensed firearms were found in their possession as well as house-breaking implements. We suspect they might have been targeting a house (this time) because had they been targeting things like ATMs we would have found explosives there, and they were absent.”
He said a police presence and patrols in the area had been increased in recent weeks after a number of crime incidents.
Zwane said preliminary investigations at the scene revealed that the vehicle used was hijacked in Newlands East in August last year.
He said it was believed that at least one person was from the area - “apparently one of the women at the scene identified one of the dead men as her grandson”.
KwaZulu-Natal acting provincial commissioner Major-General Bheki Langa condemned the attack on police officers while they were executing their duties.
“We wish the injured police official a speedy recovery,” he said.