Cape Town – The last image a grandchild has of his grandmother is of her being shot dead on his birthday.
Denise Roman was sitting in her lounge after her grandson’s sixth birthday party, but ended up with a bullet in her head after a brazen gunman walked into her home shooting.
The shooter was apparently chasing a rival gang member who, looking for an escape, saw an open door and ran into Denise’s home on Farrier Street in Westridge.
The 63-year-old granny was sitting with her sister, Shirley Rossouw, 53, when the incident occurred on Monday night.
The Mitchells Plain woman was declared dead four hours after the shooting.
Shirley explains: “She was rushed to hospital by an ambulance, she sustained a head wound.
“Around midnight we got the call from a doctor who suggested that we come in the morning, but I insisted we go there after the call.
“When we arrived at the hospital the doctor handed us my sister’s clothes and said she didn’t make it.”
Shirley says on Monday night, Denise was in a happy mood.
“It was like she knew that would be her last day, she usually would skel at (scold) the kids for playing loud music, but that day she was happy and dancing with them as they took videos of her.
“Around 8pm the music was already off and we were sitting in the living room when a tall man, who is from around the corner, came running inside our house as someone behind him was shooting.
“I quickly went to the kitchen to grab the children and my sister was behind me. She looked back at the man, who shot her in the forehead and she fell in the bedroom, where her grandchild and great-grandchild were watching movies.”
She adds that the shooter casually walked back out of the front door while the neighbour escaped through the back.
The traumatised woman says she told Denise’s only child to keep talking to her while they called an ambulance.
“Her son spoke with her until the ambulance arrived and took her away.”
Shirley says the six-year-old birthday boy, who saw his grandmother fall inside the room, has been left extremely traumatised.
She says while relatives were fixing the broken door, the boy ran around the house because of the banging.
“We are waiting for the police to come and counsel the entire family because we are all devastated by what happened.
“Denise was our parent, sister and friend whom we all depended on.”
SAPS’ Captain FC van Wyk says a murder case has been opened for investigation with no arrests yet.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Angus November of Mitchells Plain Serious and Violent Crimes investigation department at 082 777 8076.
Daily Voice