Cape Town - A Kenwyn man shot two men - one fatally - when an armed gang stormed their home on Wednesday night threatening to kill his family.
The drama unfolded at 9.45pm when his 55-year-old wife, and 26-year-old daugher, were parking their cars in the driveway after returning home.
The family spoke about their ordeal to the Cape Argus which has protected their identities to prevent further trauma.
The daughter said she noticed four men, in a red Ford Figo, circle the house before they eventually struck.
“I saw them in the rear-view mirror and then I became suspicious. They were driving really slowly and when they came past me, I looked at them and the window was slightly tinted - I saw lots of men in the car,” she said.
Two of the men, wielding firearms, pushed their way past the security gate and accosted the two women in the driveway.
One of the men pointed a firearm at the the older woman who was still seated in her BMW, while her daughter sprinted for the door with the other man in pursuit.
The younger woman said one of the armed men told her to remain silent.
“That is the instant I shouted and I yelled at my mother to reverse her car. I shouted to my dad that there were men in the house while I was running. I ran inside and closed the door. The burglar pushed his arm through a crack in the door and tried to reach for me. He grabbed me on my shoulder but I freed myself.
“As I ran away, my sister was standing in the passage and I pushed her to get out of the way. I shoved her into my room.
“All I heard was a loud bang! And shattering glass,” she said.
Her 67-year-old father had been sleeping in his room, recovering from a sore back, when he heard the “hysterical screams” of his daughters in the passage.
“I realised that there was danger and possible death in my house.”
He reached for his handgun and, as he saw the flame of the bullet leaving the barrel of the burglar’s gun, he fired, killing the man.
“I shot the man who tried to shoot my daughter in the head, while the other one stepped into my line of fire.”
He too was hit.
“I acted instinctively, I did not panic but at the same time I knew that it was the kind of thing that you read in a newspaper.
“People getting killed in their homes. It was a survival reaction - I knew that it was going to be me or him,” he said.
The bullet meant for his daughter's head smashed into a mirror facing the front door.
Meanwhile, his wife was still being held up at gunpoint in the driveway with the other armed men demanding she hand over her car keys.
“While I stared at the gun pointed at me, I thought, this is it. I did not want to look at him while he shot me so I turned - that is when I saw two more men at the gate. I asked them what they wanted. And they said they wanted the car,” she said.
Thinking only of her family’s safety, she handed over the car keys.
Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Andre Traut confirmed the circumstances surrounding the death of the man were being investigated.
Cape Argus