Johannesburg - As soon as the grey Renault Sandero stopped flipping and came to a halt, three of the four men leapt out and fired more shots at the police officers.
Residents and passers-by, rattled by the gunshots, watched in awe as medics tried to save a seriously wounded biker whose motorcycle, along with several other vehicles, was hit by the car as it flipped.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Rang more gunshots as the police and the robbers continued to exchange gunfire. This is how witnesses described a scene of a shootout between the police and a gang of robbers at the intersection of Republic Road and Woodlands Avenue in Hurlingham, Randburg.
The shooting, which happened shortly after noon on Thursday, left one robber dead. As the Renault flipped, it crashed into other vehicles and a motorbike, leaving several people injured.
“Wouldn’t it be great if the thugs were left on the floor to fight for their lives instead of the biker?” asked a woman as one of the robbers, who lay writhing in pain and bleeding, called for water. He had been shot in the right thigh.
The Renault driver, who died in the car, was left unattended for more than two hours, witnesses said.
“I feel sorry for the medics who witness this and for other road users innocently affected, but I'm not sorry for these robbers,” said another woman.
According to Emer-G-Med spokesman Maxwell Cohen, the men were fleeing from police.
“The robbers crashed into four vehicles and a motorbike. A shootout between police and the suspects then ensued.”
Gauteng police spokesman Captain Tsekiso Mofokeng said the cops had spotted the robbers’ car and the “suspects tried to speed away when they realised they were being followed.
“They crashed into several cars and opened fire on police who then retaliated. One suspect escaped, one was killed and two others were injured. They were taken to hospital under police guard.”
Cohen said the biker, who was in a critical condition, was placed on a ventilator before he was airlifted to hospital.
According to reports on Friday morning, the biker died in hospital on Thursday night.
Traffic was disrupted as William Nicol, parts of Republic Road and Woodlands Avenue were closed.
Mofokeng said two unlicensed firearms were recovered and a hunt had been launched for the fourth suspect.
Last week, a shootout between police and alleged hijackers in Westonaria, west of Joburg, left a hijacker dead and two injured. The hijackers had stolen several cigarette vehicles. Two others were arrested but four fled. A manhunt is still under way.
Earlier this month, three robbers were shot and seriously wounded by police following a botched cash-in-transit heist.
Police had pursued them onto the N14 in Randburg. One got away after the shootout.
The Star