Cape Town - Three bystanders and a police officer sustained serious gunshot injuries when unknown suspects opened fire at City Centre Eerste Rivier shopping centre while trying to rob a post office.
An initial police report of the incident states that the suspects entered the post office and demanded cash after an SBV cash-in-transit vehicle had made a drop-off.
Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said the Kleinvlei Crime Prevention Unit responded to a complaint of a business robbery just before 1pm. When officers arrived a shootout ensued between the suspects and the police.
“Two men, aged 76 and 40, a female aged 40 plus, and a 30-year-old police constable sustained gunshot wounds. The four victims were all transported to nearby hospitals for medical treatment.
“The unknown suspects fled the scene and are yet to be arrested. Kleinvlei police are investigating cases of attempted murder, attack on police, and business robbery,” he said.
Russel Meiring, ER24 spokesperson said: “ER24 arrived at 1:10pm to find the local authorities and security forces already in attendance. On scene, medics were led into the shopping centre to the patients.
“Medics assessed the patients and found that a male security guard was in a serious condition, having sustained a gunshot wound to his thigh, while a man and woman had each sustained a gunshot wound to their foot.
“The patients were treated, and the seriously injured man was provided with pain-relief medication before they were transported to a nearby hospital for further care. It is understood that a law enforcement officer that was in a serious condition was transported privately to a nearby hospital,” Meiring said.
Last month, SBV industry counterpart G4S Cash Solutions released a statement calling on the police ministry to convene an urgent meeting with all stakeholders to address the escalation of violence in cash-in-transit attacks.
In its statement, G4S claimed that suspects behind cash-in-transit heists were not ordinary criminals, but well-organised criminal syndicates.
G4S southern Africa regional cluster director Renso Smit said: “The country and the entire private security industry cannot afford to lose more guards to these brutal attacks, and we are therefore calling on the minister of police to take urgent action.
“To tackle CIT attacks, we believe it’s essential that this sort of crime is prioritised and that the CIT task team under the SAPS be reconstituted and bolstered as a matter of urgency, and that the sector works closely with law enforcement and government to tackle this scourge together.
“There are not enough prosecutions and convictions to deter these criminals, who are operating with impunity. We are therefore calling on Crime Intelligence, SAPS, the Hawks, the National Prosecuting Authority and the ministers who lead them to prioritise CIT crime,” Smit said.