Joburg man shoots intruder dead

Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. File picture: Nokuthula Mbatha

Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital. File picture: Nokuthula Mbatha

Published Nov 20, 2015

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Johannesburg - Yet another Joburg family has fought back against robbers who gained entry to their property, shooting one of them in the head.

A shoot-out ensued at a Hyde Park home on Thursday afternoon after a man in his forties noticed four men wearing black balaclavas entering his yard.

Police spokesman Warrant Officer Moses Maphakela said the man first saw the intruders trying to open his gate at about 2pm. When they eventually gained entry, he screamed, prompting a second man to emerge from the house.

“The robbers began shooting at the two men, and the second man shot back,” said Maphakela.

“One of the man’s bullets struck one of the robbers in the head. The suspects realised they were in trouble and fled in an Audi A4.”

From Hyde Park, the men drove their accomplice to Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital, dumping him outside before fleeing.

“They just left him there,” said Maphakela.

The wounded robber, a 30-year-old man, died at the hospital. Upon hearing that one of the robbers had been hurt in the crossfire, police had sent officers to every hospital in town to track him down. Police later recovered the getaway car, which had been reported stolen earlier this month.

Maphakela said the passenger side of the car was riddled with bullet holes and blood covered the backseat.

Police also found a 9mm gun which appears to have been dropped by one of the suspects as they fled. Its serial number had been filed off.

The three suspects are still at large, but police have opened cases of attempted robbery and attempted murder and are investigating.

This is not the first time Joburg residents have fought back against would-be robbers.

One afternoon in August, several men tried to rob a home in Kibler Park belonging to a married couple who happened to be police officers.

The couple realised what was happening in time to position themselves, armed, at the front door and a window.

When one of the men came in, he looked straight into the barrel of a gun. As he ran away, the wife shot him in the legs and genitals. His accomplices, who fled, were later apprehended in a botched getaway.

This was just a month after three men broke into a home in Glenvista belonging to a couple in their fifties in the middle of the night.

The intruders were not prepared for the wife who slept with a gun under her pillow. She shot both of the robbers who entered her bedroom. One died at the scene while the other managed to make it to the patio before he, too, died.

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The Star

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