African News Agency
Johannesburg: Two alleged cellphone cargo robbers were shot dead and two others wounded during a shootout with police at Johannesburg’s Clearwater Mall on Tuesday.
Police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale said police pounced on the group of armed robbers after they held up a courier van and started unloading its cargo into their vehicle.
“Two of the suspects died and two were wounded. Four guns were seized.”
She added that the wounded men were arrested. The stolen cargo, consisting of cellphones, was recovered at the scene.
“On arrival, paramedics found numerous patients lying in the parking lot of the mall. On assessment, paramedics found that one man had sustained fatal gunshot wounds in the incident. Unfortunately nothing more could be done for the patient and he was declared dead on scene,” ER24 spokesman Russel Meiring said.
“Four other patients were found on scene with various gunshot wounds, one of them critically injured. Unfortunately, the critically injured man succumbed to his injuries on the way to hospital.”
Investigations that could possibly link the group with mall robberies around Gauteng was under way.