Durban - Two police officers were wounded in a shoot-out with alleged hijackers, one of whom was arrested, in Newlands West in Durban in the early hours of Saturday morning, KwaZulu-Natal police said.
Inanda policing cluster task team members were conducting an operation on Castlehill Drive in Newlands West when they were approached by a man who informed them that his mother had been hijacked while entering her property in Ashcastle Place in Newlands West, Colonel Thembeka Mbele said.
"While police officers were taking information from the informant the vehicle passed the police officers at a very high speed. Police chased the vehicle and realised that it was the same vehicle that was hijacked. Seeing the police officers the suspects opened fire at police who retaliated and a shoot-out ensued."
Two police officers were wounded and the suspects sped off. Police officers who responded to the shooting later arrested one suspect and recovered the hijacked vehicle. Three suspects managed to evade arrest.
A 45-year-old woman had allegedly stopped in her driveway in Ashcastle Place with her sister at 2.30am when four men approached them. They were hijacked at gunpoint, assaulted with firearms, and robbed of their valuables. A case of hijacking had been opened at the Newlands East police station.
The arrested suspect would be charged with hijacking and two counts of attempted murder. He would appear in court soon. Police and the K9 unit were still searching for the three suspects who escaped. The wounded police officers were taken to hospital for medical attention, Mbele said.