Durban - An armed response security officer was injured during a shootout with suspects who were in the process of robbing a man standing next to his vehicle on Darby Road in Overport in Durban on Monday.
Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nqobile Gwala said the incident took place at 6pm when three unknown men pulled up in a vehicle next to a man standing next to his car and forced him to lie down.
Gwala said the suspects took the victim’s cell phone.
She said the suspects were disturbed by security guards who fired shots towards their vehicle and the suspects retaliated.
“One security guard sustained gunshot injuries and was rushed to hospital,” said Gwala.
Emer-G-Med Paramedics spokesperson Kyle van Reenen, said paramedics responded to the incident.
Van Reenen said the armed response officer, who is approximately 30-years-old, was shot in the right lower arm.
“He was treated and stabilised on scene before being taken to a nearby hospital for further care,” he said.
In June, The Mercury’s sister publication, the Daily News, reported that a reaction officer was left in critical condition after he was shot multiple times on Lyttleton Avenue in Reservoir Hills in Durban.
According to paramedics the reaction officer was believed to be in his forties and had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his body in a shooting incident.
“The officer was in a critical condition and was stabilised on the scene by advanced life support paramedics before being rushed to a nearby Durban hospital for the further treatment that he required,” said ALS Paramedics Medical Services spokesperson Garrith Jamieson.