Bloemfontein - A man wanted in connection with a case of armed robbery and murder committed suicide in Botshabelo on Saturday morning, Free State police said.
Lt-Col Thandi Mbambo said the man was suspected to have been part of a group of five men who shot and killed a bottle store owner during a robbery last month.
“One of the suspects handed himself over and another was arrested yesterday [Friday],” said Mbambo.
“The police received information that another suspect was at his in-laws and decided to fetch him at around 2am.”
The man locked himself in a shack and began firing shots at the police.
The rest of his family, who were sleeping in an adjacent shack, were safely evacuated.
“Police tried to negotiate with him. After a while, he was no longer responding and police infiltrated the shack and found that he had shot himself in the head,” said Mbambo.
An inquest docket had been opened.
The arrested men would appear in the Botshabelo Magistrate's Court on Monday. - Sapa