Johannesburg - Two police officers were wounded during a shoot-out with robbers in Benoni on Friday morning.
According to Gauteng police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini, the incident happened at about 4am on Thomas and High roads.
“Police officers from Crystal Park were following a truck that was allegedly hijacked in Secunda. The truck was being escorted by two vehicles which began to fire actively at police, a chase and shoot-out then ensued,” Dlamini said.
“The two officers were shot, one in the leg and the other in the shoulder. Both were taken to hospital in a stable condition.”
Dlamini could not confirm what the truck was carrying but said it was found abandoned with its load. “Police are still busy on the scene investigating. Three rifles were recovered; one was hidden in a dustbin. No arrests have been made but we are appealing to anyone with information to come forward,” he said.
Dlamini added that a case of attempted murder and robbery had been opened.
In a separate incident on Monday, a female police officer was shot in the head on Soweto’s Golden Highway while on patrol. “A white BMW X3 with tinted windows was spotted near Eldorado Park.
“Feeling that the vehicle was suspicious, the officers tried to stop the vehicle. This is when two of the occupants in the BMW began shooting at the officers with rifles,” he said.
He said the back window was shattered, and she was the only one injured as she was sitting in the back seat of the vehicle. Dlamini said she was still in a critical condition.
Last week a video emerged of a police officer in Brits, North West, being gunned down. The officer was killed while approaching a vehicle.
North West police spokesman Paul Ramaloko said the fatal shot was not from the white vehicle in the video, but from another car 30m away.
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