DURBAN - Three police-involved shoot-outs were reported in KwaZulu-Natal between Friday night and Sunday morning, resulting in nine suspects being arrested and five killed. One police officer was also killed and two were left wounded.
A police officer was shot dead and another was left wounded during a shoot-out with suspects on Sunday morning. National police spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe said a sergeant attached to the Empangeni Flying Squad was shot and killed on the N2 between Mtubatuba and Empangeni.
Mathe said the incident happened on Sunday at 7.30am when members of the Empangeni Flying Squad spotted a suspicious-looking vehicle on the highway.
“When members approached the vehicle, they were met with fire. The 45-year-old member was fatally wounded while another sustained gunshot wounds.
“Three suspects were fatally wounded and police have since mobilised resources and various disciplines within the province to apprehend two suspects who fled the scene,” Mathe said.
On Saturday at 12.30pm, officers from Phoenix had received information about a vehicle with five occupants who had committed a house robbery in Phoenix earlier in the week.
Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said that on viewing video footage, the officers realised that the vehicle was the same one that was used in a robbery in Phoenix on Thursday, where the suspects had posed as municipal workers.
The officers received information that the vehicle was heading towards KwaMashu from Reservoir Hills. The police then sped to the M19 where they located the vehicle on Inanda Road.
“A chase ensued and there was an exchange of gunfire. The suspects’ vehicle crashed along a barrier on Inanda Road near Parlock. All five suspects were apprehended at the scene. The suspects were injured in the collision and two were declared dead on the scene while the other three were detained,” said Mbele.
“During a search of the vehicle two firearms, jewellery, cellphones and various other items were found.”
Mbele said one of the suspects was out on bail for a jewellery store robbery that was committed at the Phoenix Plaza in November last year.
“Both firearms were seized and will be taken for ballistics testing. The vehicle that crashed was also seized and impounded for further investigation,” Mbele said.
“The three suspects will appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court facing charges for attempted murder, possession of suspected stolen property as well as unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.”
On Friday, police arrested four suspects after a shoot-out with an off-duty police officer. Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala said the arrest came when at 7.30pm, an off-duty police officer attended a church service at P Section in uMlazi. While he and a woman were outside the church on their cellphones they were accosted by three men who robbed them of their phones.
“One of the suspects attempted to steal the police officer's firearm and there was a shoot-out. During the shooting, the police officer was shot on the leg and thigh. Several vehicles of the congregants were also damaged. The suspects fled on foot with injuries. Police officers were immediately alerted and they swiftly responded to the scene. Two suspects were found not far from the scene with gunshot wounds,” Gwala said.
“One of the suspects was still in possession of a firearm that was used to shoot the police officer. Further information was followed up on, which led police to arrest two more suspects and recover a vehicle that was used in the commission of the offence. The injured suspects were taken to hospital where they are under police guard while the other two are in police custody.”
Gwala added that four suspects aged between 23 and 36 were expected to appear before the uMlazi Magistrate’s Court this week on charges of attempted murder, robbery, malicious damage to property and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Daily News