CAPE TOWN - A South African Police Service (SAPS) constable was shot dead and two other officers and a suspect were wounded in a shootout in Delft in Cape Town in the early hours of Sunday morning, Western Cape police said.
"Delft police performing crime prevention duties in the area came under fire in the early hours of this morning [Sunday], resulting in the death of one and serious injury to two other police members," Captain FC van Wyk said.
The suspect subsequently fled. A second police patrol vehicle responding to the shooting was also shot at by the same suspect. They returned fire and wounded the 24-year-old suspect, who was currently under police guard in hospital. A firearm was seized. Fellow officers from the police station were receiving trauma counselling, he said.
Police had intensified deployment in the area. Police management had condemned the incident and vowed to continue to rid the streets of Cape Town of dangerous criminals and illegal firearms, Van Wyk said.
Community members were urged to report illegal activity occurring in their areas to the crime stop number 08600-10111. The name of the 32-year-old police officer had not yet been released as his family was still being informed, Van Wyk said.