Durban - A terrified mother tried to hide her baby while a shocked man stood frozen as bullets flew during a robbery at a convenience store in Stanger Manor at the weekend.
Watching, while parked outside the Engen convenience shop on the R74, the driver of a private security vehicle drove into the store, blocking the entrance to try to trap the three armed robbers inside.
However, a shoot-out ensued when three more robbers posted outside opened fire with AK-47s.
According to the Hawks, the bullets pierced the armoured security vehicle, hitting the driver in the leg.
He is recovering in hospital.
Police spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane, said the robbery happened on Saturday morning.
The armed men apparently arrived and left in two separate cars, an Audi and a Corsa bakkie.
The bakkie is believed to have been used in another recent cash-in-transit robbery in Dube Village.
Two security guards had been inside the shop to take two cash boxes containing nearly R90 000 to their armoured vehicle, when they were held up.
Reviewing CCTV footage from the store, police said one of the security guards drew his firearm, but realising there were innocent bystanders inside the shop, did not resist and was pressured into opening the cash boxes.
The man and a woman with her baby were among the people inside at the time. The man was apparently in shock and did not move while the mother tried to protect her baby during the shoot-out by hiding her child in-between boxes.
The Hawks are searching for about six men who escaped.
Co-owner of the store, Nosiphiwo Ligwa, who was in the shop at the time said: “We were scared that they might take the money and shoot us.”
Daily News