Pretoria The Patriotic Alliance in Eersterust has called for justice to be served for the late Chesslyn Koffman after the arrest of two suspected gang members who allegedly shot him dead two weeks ago.
Koffman, 34, died outside the local police station after fleeing from his attackers.
His brother, Simon Koffman, previously told the Pretoria News that his late brother had divorced himself from the “gangster lifestyle when he came out of prison”.
However, he suspected that he was gunned down by someone who harboured a grudge against him.
“In fact, he was threatened not so long ago and he came to this police station to report that, but they thought he was talking nonsense and sent him away,” said Koffman on the day of the shooting.
Eersterust police station spokesperson Sergeant Sam Shibambo said the police arrested one of the suspects in the Villieria area.
“The suspect was found in possession of an unlicensed firearm with live ammunition as well as a Toyota Etios that was reportedly hijacked in Eersterust earlier his month,” he said.
The second suspect was caught in Mamelodi, where police also recovered an unlicensed firearm with live ammunition.
“In their quest to pursue justice the police raided the last address in Arum Lily, Eersterust, where they recovered a Ford Figo that was hijacked in the Silverton policing precinct earlier this month. Both suspects were detained,” Shibambo said.
The firearms were sent to the SAPS forensic lab to ascertain if they had been used in the murder.
Eersterust Patriotic Alliance spokesperson Virginia Keppler yesterday said: “The Patriotic Alliance would like to commend the police for how they quickly investigated this case. I know that the investigation is not over, but they have arrested two suspects and they have taken some guns out of the streets now.”
Keppler said it was unfair for the community to feel unsafe in the streets, especially where children could also be caught in the crossfire.
“Eersterust has been quiet for a long time. There has not been any shooting in the community. And with the arrests of the suspects we are hoping that things will go back to normal. We do not have gangsters in Eersterust, I can assure you of that. The community won’t tolerate gangsters.”
She said her political party expressed sympathy to the bereaved families and other families that had lost their children.
“We also feel for the family where their children are involved in these things because some of them occur due to socio-economic problems. We hope that justice will be served and we hope for peace.”
Pretoria News