Durban - A Reservoir Hills crime fighter is recovering in hospital after he was shot in the chest by robbers who climbed up his neighbour’s awning and leaped on to his balcony.
The victim’s lung was punctured and his spleen removed after the incident at his Annet Drive home last Thursday night.
His wife, who requested anonymity, told POST the bullet was not removed as doctors informed them it was lodged in a risky area but was lying dormant and would not affect him.
She said he was expected to be discharged next week, but his recovery would take around two months.
“We live in a double-storey home and my brother and family stay downstairs. My husband and I were inside with our 6-week-old son and 4-year-old daughter when we heard the dogs barking outside.”
She said her husband left the balcony door slightly ajar as they never thought someone would enter the house from the top floor.
“He then went to the bathroom and I got up to go to the bedroom as our baby was crying.
“While there, I heard the sliding door open. I knew my husband was in the bathroom and became suspicious.
“I ran with the baby to see who it was and in the process screamed, Who's opening the door?'
“I saw a man and he charged at me, telling me to shoo’ (keep quiet) but I continued to scream, hoping my brother and family downstairs would hear.”
The man then pushed her into the bedroom: “My daughter was asleep on the bed and I knelt in the corner with my baby in my arms.”
Not knowing one intruder was already in the bedroom, her husband (who is part of the area's neighbourhood watch) went to the balcony, where he saw two men struggling to get in.
“He tried to fight them off and had both of them in a choke-hold. They started screaming for help from their accomplice. The next moment, I saw the accomplice turn and take a gun out of his pants.”
Fearing the worst, she said she ran to the door and screamed for help.
The accomplice then tapped her husband on the shoulder, and as he turned, he was shot.
All three assailants jumped off the balcony and fled on foot.
Her brother rushed her husband to Westville Hospital. While an ambulance was called, it arrived only about 40 minutes later, she said. “My husband could have died.”
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane said a case of attempted murder was being investigated.
The Post