Tow truck driver, e-hailing driver gunned down with high calibre rifle in Durban drive-by shooting

Police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker said that at approximately 10.30am this morning police at Durban Central responded to a crime scene where two men were shot and killed on Argyle Road. | SAPS

Police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker said that at approximately 10.30am this morning police at Durban Central responded to a crime scene where two men were shot and killed on Argyle Road. | SAPS

Published Dec 20, 2022

Share

Durban — Police have confirmed a tow truck driver and an e-hailing driver were gunned down in Durban on Tuesday morning.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker said about 10.30am on Tuesday, police at Durban Central responded to a crime scene where two men were shot and killed on Sandile Thusi (former Argyle) road.

“It is reported that the two men, one of whom was a tow truck driver, were standing outside their vehicles when two suspects approached them and opened fire on them with a high calibre rifle,” Naicker said.

“The motive for the shooting is yet to be established and a search for the suspects is under way.”

Naicker said Durban Central police were investigating two counts of murder.

Earlier, Emer-G-Med spokesperson Kyle van Reenen said paramedics responded to the scene of the shooting incident.

Van Reenen said two men, aged approximately 40, were found with multiple gunshot wounds and in a state of cardiac arrest.

“Resuscitation efforts were attempted on both men, however, were unsuccessful, and the men were declared dead on the scene,” Van Reenen said.

Van Reenen said the motive of the shooting was unknown.

The shooting comes a day after KwaZulu-Natal police confirmed the arrest of a suspect in the Effingham drive-by shooting that left two men dead last month.

Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said Operation Qondisa, led by members of the Provincial Investigations and Tracking Task Team and officers from Rapid Rail Police Unit, closed in on Siphamandla Gumede, 29, who was on the police’s wanted list for a double murder and attempted murder at Effingham Road in Greenwood Park on November 21.

Netshiunda said Gumede allegedly shot and killed two men aged 40 and 50 in cold blood and fled from the scene.

“With police hot on his heels, Gumede ran out of breathing space and handed himself over to the police in the presence of his legal representative and three other men at the Amanzimtoti police station on December 14,” Netshiunda said.

On December 15, Gumede appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court and was remanded in custody. He will return to court on December 22.

Daily News