Cape Town - The bizarre shooting and suicide at Cape Town train station was nothing but a robbery gone wrong, say police sources.
Within minutes of the shooting at noon on Tuesday, social media exploded with speculation that the two men, dressed in parda (traditional female Muslim clothing), were terrorists.
Now, police sources reveal that the deceased is a young white man who was armed with a police gun.
The men had been under surveillance when CCID security guards tried to confront them.
The suspects fled into the train station, shooting into the crowd.
Fortunately no one was injured.
When cornered, one of the men shot himself in the head.
The blast lifted his black veil, revealing his face.
He had no form of identification and police are trying to identify him through fingerprinting.
The source says: “It was a robbery that went very wrong.”
The second suspect fled the scene.
Some witnesses claim a third person was involved but no evidence has come to light to confirm this.
Security footage shows two suspects, both dressed in long black Islamic prayer tops, their heads covered by parda, showing only their eyes, wearing boots and latex gloves.
It is believed the men tried unsuccesfully to rob a city store before heading to the station.
The two were seen crossing Heerengracht Street in the CBD just after 11.39am on Tuesday.
Security personnel approached and the two started shooting just outside the station entrance.
Witnesses say the gunmen ran to Platform 24, the Mitchells Plain line.
It was here that one of the suspects shot himself, while his accomplice escaped through an exit door.
“We believe they attempted a robbery in Cape Town before that and walked from the street leading to the station,” said the police source.
“The deceased was a white male, no older than 27, with short hair.
“When he saw he wouldn’t get away, he shot himself in the head. He was carrying a Beretta 9mm that is a standard police issue firearm. He also had a blue backpack but there was no form of identification on him.”
The police officer added that the suspect did not die immediately.
“There was so much blood. His heart was still beating; it took our guys three hours to analyse the scene.”
Clothing store assistant Nonopha Nyamapu, 29, watched the terror unfold.
“I was outside calling the customers when I saw a Muslim woman, well, I thought it was a woman,” she said.
“The security came running past saying: ‘Catch him, catch him’. Out of the blue, the one man turned around and pulled out a gun.”
A commuter, who asked not to be named, believes it was the actions of “mad men on a religious crusade”.
Spokesperson for the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) Nabeweya Malick played down talk of a Muslim extremist terror attack.
“I don’t want to speculate; it was possibly just a criminal trying to disguise himself. We will wait until police release a statement,” she said.
Daily Voice