A Sutherland policeman has expressed sympathy for a fugitive French national who allegedly wounded him and shot dead his colleague.
“I saw (news about the couple’s death) on TV news. I feel sorry for them,” said Warrant Officer Glenwall du Toit from his hospital bed on Sunday.
Du Toit, 42, had been in the N1 City Hospital since January 14 when he was shot in the back, allegedly by Philippe Meniere, 60.
The couple had lived on Hardie farm for 12 years but Du Plessis was wanting to evict them when tragedy struck. Du Toit and three colleagues, accompanied by Du Plessis’s sons, had gone to the farm to collect unlicensed firearms and Meniere had allegedly shot dead student officer Jacob Boleme, 27. He had then shot and wounded Du Toit while the others ran. Jardel had allegedly started shooting from the house.
Du Toit said: “I am sorry that they had to die in that way.”
Out of the intensive care unit and with the bullet removed from his back, Du Toit said he was feeling better despite his broken ribs. He would be discharged from hospital on Wednesday.
“I am longing for my wife and I can’t wait to go back to Sutherland to see my two children,” he said.
A week after his colleague Boleme was killed, Du Toit was still overcome by sadness. “I could not believe he was dead. I am still feeling down.”
Meanwhile, police were mum on the couple’s deaths.
After the dramatic shooting at a vacant farmhouse only 400m from where the couple had lived, police left their bodies for several hours in the positions in which they had died until the bomb squad had ensured there were no explosives attached to them. - Cape Times