Pretoria - When gunshots rang out at a famous Soshanguve pub on Monday morning, all hell broke loose as pub-goers ran for cover.
The Extension 3 pub, Mochoma Grills, famous for its Sunday soul sessions, turned into a crime scene after an estimated 10 gunmen wreaked havoc just after midnight.
Two people lost their lives in the gunfire, one dying at the scene and the other later in hospital.
The incident left the pub’s regular customers and neighbours fearing for their lives. Witnesses said 10 men, armed with pistols, came in and shot randomly.
The pub was not packed as it usually is, and when they heard the first gunshot, they saw a security guard lying on the floor, patrons said yesterday. The gunmen made their way to the counter, shooting randomly at everyone in their way. And as they were leaving they continued shooting outside, bullets hitting a shack nearby, but no one was injured. Property inside was damaged.
Witnesses told the Pretoria News they believed the armed gunmen were looking for someone specific.
“I saw six or seven men enter armed, and they began shooting randomly, two men approached the counter and shot people behind the burglar-barred counter, it slightly opened and they got in. “Everyone was on the floor. They took our valuables and left us traumatised,” one man said.
A neighbour said he had just exited the pub when he heard the gunshots.
“This place will never be the same again, it is the first time something of this nature happens, we do not know what these people wanted. What if they come back?” he said.
Soshanguve police spokesperson, Portia Sebone, confirmed that the gunmen took cellphones, bags and also an undisclosed amount of money from the pub and patrons who were at the pub. Sebone said the motive behind the shooting was unknown, and the police investigation continues.