Johannesburg -
The father who was shot outside the De La Salle Holy Cross College Primary School last week died unexpectedly in hospital on Sunday night.
Derek Woods, whose daughter is in Grade 7 at the school, was apparently followed to the school by three men after he drew a large sum of money last Thursday.
Two of the men jumped out of their white Golf GTI as Woods approached a stop street metres from the school, opened the passenger door and tried to grab the bag of money.
Woods fought back, but the men fired at him and fled with the cash.
Bobby Heaney, a member of the school’s board, spoke on behalf of principal Debbie Harris on Monday morning.
He said the school was devastated by Woods’s death.
“Several members of staff went to visit Mr Woods at the weekend and by Sunday evening, it had been decided that he was recovering and that his daughter would come back to school on Monday morning,” Heaney said.
He said Harris had been informed of the death by Woods’s son, a former pupil at De La Salle who is now at university, early on Monday morning.
At the time of publication, they were still unsure of the cause of death.
Heaney said counsellors would be available throughout the week for any pupils or staff members who needed them.
The shooting happened about 10 minutes before the end of the school day. Staff members quickly attended to the emergency.
The Victory Park school’s estate manager, Grant Domoney, picked up on his hand radio that a panic button had been pressed by one of the security team.
He rushed outside and saw the school’s health and safety officer, Kobie Taylor, equipped with a first aid kit, attending to Woods bleeding profusely in his bakkie.
Though he had been shot three times, Woods was still conscious, but he was fighting through extreme pain.
An ambulance was summoned and Taylor had stemmed the flow of blood pouring from the 53-year-old’s leg and forearm. The ambulance arrived a short while later.
After the shooting, staff inside the school rallied around the children, trying to keep them calm.
Pupils were taken class by class to the school’s main hall.
Police spokesman Sergeant Bonginkosi Mdletshe said no arrests had been made. - The Star
The Star