Johannesburg - A stray bullet meant for a taxi driver, who allegedly pointed a gun at a metro police officer, hit a passenger seated in another taxi in Soweto.
The taxi driver got away, leaving the baffled officer and the injured woman trying to make sense of what had happened.
The woman was on her way to work and was seated at the back of another taxi when the bullet pierced the exterior of the vehicle she was in and hit her.
She was taken to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital for treatment.
Joburg metro police spokesman Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said the shooting took place while law and traffic enforcement officers were taking part in operations at the Bara taxi rank to mark the beginning of Transport Month.
Minnaar said the officers were guiding the taxis into the rank to search them when a taxi driver, whose vehicle allegedly didn’t have number plates, fired two shots at metro officers.
“The officer drew a gun and fired one shot,” Minnaar said.
A resident of Diepkloof Zone 6, where the shooting occurred, said he saw five taxis coming from the side of the rank and driving dangerously onto the narrow streets.
He said the drivers were running away from the roadblock and that there was chaos as the drivers turned a single lane into a double one, moving at high speed over speed bumps.
“I said to myself: ‘what a shock; The Fast and the Furious of minibus taxis is happening in the township’,” the 32-year-old man said. He was referring to an action film about illegal street racing and heists.
He said that immediately afterwards, he saw a white minibus taxi driving at high speed, closely followed by a metro police vehicle.
The empty taxi overtook another white taxi, which had passengers.
At that moment, a gunshot went off.
“He must have been aiming for the tyre of the empty taxi and he shot the other one by mistake. After the shooting, the taxi driver, who had been shot at, stopped and went to fetch the metro police officer. The driver of the empty taxi got away,” he said.
Minnaar said the police were investigating.
The Star