DURBAN – A dispute over a seat in a minibus taxi led to a man firing a gunshot in Hillcrest on Wednesday night.
The passengers escaped unharmed. The incident happened in a minibus taxi around 6pm, but alarmed passengers fought off the armed suspect and confiscated his firearm.
This was confirmed by police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele, who said the suspect fled the scene on foot after he was overpowered and had his gun confiscated by another passenger.
"The complainant requested the suspect to stop swearing, the suspect withdrew his firearm and fired shot towards the complainant. The complainant managed to overpower the suspect and took the firearm from him. The complainant handed the fireman to the security guard at the mall and called the police," said Mbhele.
Police were investigating a case of attempted murder.
Blue Security spokesman Andreas Mathios, whom the firearm was handed to their security company, said a man had jumped into the taxi at around 6pm and started to argue with another passenger over a seat at the back of the taxi.
“The man pulled out a firearm and threatened to shoot the passenger who then wrestled with his assailant in an attempt to disarm him. A shot went off and hit the floor of the taxi causing the passengers to flee the vehicle in different directions,”
“The passenger eventually managed to grab the firearm and ran into a nearby shopping centre where he handed over the firearm to a security guard,” Mathios said.