Durban -
A Durban police captain was killed in a shoot-out with home robbers on Friday when he confronted them after they mounted an assault on a second home.
The Greenwood Park officer, who had 29 years of service, had responded to calls for help from Riverside Road.
In another home robbery, a Reservoir Hills woman has told of terrifying moments after she locked herself in her bedroom, and heard her parents being shot and beaten by a gang of home robbers on Thursday night.
Her father was shot four times in the legs, her mother was pistol-whipped, and their domestic worker was also assaulted.
In Friday morning’s Riverside shoot-out, a witness said a group of men had robbed a house at a complex. Security was called at about 9am. However, before help had arrived, the suspects moved on to Athlone Mews where they tried to rob another resident.
The captain, whose name has not yet been disclosed by police, was also called. In an exchange of gunfire, he was killed after he had managed to shoot dead one of the suspects. Another suspect was allegedly shot in the leg.
Two suspects, including the injured man, are still at large.
In Thursday night’s Reservoir Hills robbery, the woman told on Friday how the invaders approached the domestic worker, who was ironing at the time at their McLarty Road home, and hit her.
They then turned on her mother and began assaulting her and demanding money.
“I was in the bathroom showering and had just entered my bedroom when I heard my mother scream. I then heard other people, so I quickly locked my door.”
She said moments after that the attackers tried to open her door but could not get in.
“I was worried that if they got in, they would rape me. I was only in a towel. I remained quiet and put my phone on vibrate. I quickly called a friend and told them to call the police.
“I didn’t realise my father was in the office (adjoining the home) so I called him and when he answered... I told him what was happening and he rushed into the house.”
She said her father shouted at the men and a fight ensued. He was shot in the legs: “I heard the shots and came out. There were just pools of blood.”
The robbers fled the house with cash and jewellery.
She said the family had been living in the house for 28 years and had never had an incident.
“I’m sure this was planned.”
According to the Reservoir Hills Community Police Forum chairman, Ish Prahladh, three men wearing balaclavas entered the home at about 7pm.
“The garage door was open and the owner was working in his office behind the garage. Three men entered the property and walked into the house where they got hold of the wife.”
Prahladh said the couple’s daughter, in her 20s, had arrived at the house 20 minutes before the men arrived and was in the bathroom when she first heard the commotion.
He said the man “saved his wife’s life because they were going to shoot her”.
Prahladh said neighbours reported seeing the robbers driving a white car, possibly a Golf or Honda, prior to the incident.
Police at the scene said on Thursday night they were waiting for the victims, who had been taken to hospital, to recover before they could take statements from them.
Daily News