Johannesburg - A Joburg metro police officer, who was shot in the head during a high-speed chase with thugs driving a cloned car, was still critical and in an induced coma on Tuesday.
JMPD spokesperson Inspector Edna Mamonyane said Simon Sigasa was still in ICU, having undergone surgery following the shooting in Vlakfontein, south of Joburg, on Monday afternoon.
Several men travelling in a silver Volvo 4x4 were stopped for speeding on the Golden Highway, near Vlakfontein, during a routine speed-enforcement operation when a female officer saw they had a gun in their car.
“The officer allegedly grabbed it and the men sped off. Her two colleagues gave chase and that's when Sigasa was shot,” she said.
Three of the men were later found hiding in a shack behind a house in Vlakfontein. Their car was a clone of a similar vehicle, with the same registration, same make, colour and licence disc, which was with its rightful owner.
Meanwhile, in another dramatic shootout on Monday, this time in Benoni, police chased down two men in a hijacked vehicle, shooting one of them and leaving him injured.
Lieutenant Nomsa Sekele said the Toyota Tazz was hijacked at around 6:30pm in Delmas, Mpumalanga.
“Police attempted to stop it but could not and began chasing it together with the Benoni Flying Squad,” she said.
Sekele said the men in the Toyota then opened fire on the cops, who shot back.
“The officers managed to corner the vehicle in Snake Road but the suspects continued shooting. Police retaliated and injured one of them,” she said.
“The injured man was transported under heavy police guard to Tembisa Hospital. The second suspect was arrested and is being detained in Benoni.”
And in Limpopo, a shack in the remote village of Mogashoa, near Schoonoord, was the scene of a shootout in the early hours of Tuesday in which a police constable was killed.
Shots were fired shortly after nine crime investigation officers descended on the dwelling, where a robbery suspect was hiding.
The suspect allegedly responded by opening fire, fatally wounding Constable Pule Edward Kekana in the throat. He died on the way to the hospital.
A second officer was shot and wounded in a leg. Police fired back and wounded the suspect. - Additional reporting by ANA
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