South Africa: Over ten people in various spots in South Africa, have been killed by unidentified gunmen whose identities at press time remain sketchy.
At Lenasia in Johannesburg, one of the killing spots, Elias Mawela, Gauteng Police Commissioner, said four people were killed and additional two injured persons were taken to hospital.
“These people, they were sitting around the fire and then they were attacked from that point, two died at the corner, another person died down by the street.” said the Police.
“The fourth body, we are told it is in another block. We don’t know how did it happen – whether that person was part of this group, or he was found by those assailants when they were moving away from the crime scene,” he added.
Furthermore, the police via a press release on Sunday said the victims were playing dice on a street corner in Thembelihle when the assailants attacked them.
Additionally, a 36-year-old man in Thembelihle was waylaid on Sunday by unidentified men who carted away his belongings, including a cellphone and bicycle after shooting him dead.
Killings and gun wounds in Alexandra
Two days earlier, four men (yet unknown) laid ambushed unsuspecting citizens at different places in Alexandra, a town-let of Johannesburg, the capital of South Africa. During the coordinated attacks, five people were shot dead and five escaped death, according to a police media release.
“Police are searching for unknown armed suspects after five people were fatally shot and five injured at different places in Alexandra on Thursday, 14 July 2022,” said the country’s police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo.
He continued: “It is alleged that about four armed suspects went on to rob and shoot people in the area.It is reported that the suspects first met people travelling in a Toyota Etios on Fourth Avenue and Selborne Street and fired shots at them. One person was injured.“
The second incident occurred at Eleventh Avenue and Boulevard Street where the suspects found two people sitting in a car charging cellphones as there was no electricity in the area, due to load shedding. The suspects robbed the victims of their cellphones before shooting them. Both victims were taken to medical care centres for treatment.
The suspects came across the next victim at Boulevard Street, where he was fatally shot. The next victim was shot at Seventh Avenue where he died on the scene while two people were robbed of their cellphones and shoes.
“The suspects met and shot three people at Sixth Avenue. One person was fatally wounded while two victims were taken for medical treatment. It is reported that the last shooting happened at Sixth Avenue and Roosevelt Road where two people were shot while inside the Avanza. Both victims died at the scene.
“The police have opened five cases of murder, five of attempted murder and armed robberies. The Provincial Commissioner of the police in Gauteng, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela has strongly condemned these random shootings and assembled a team, comprising of different units of the South African Police Service and other law enforcement agencies, to search for the suspects,” said Masondo.
One person was arrested after he was found in possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition in Alexandra. The suspect is still being profiled to establish if he is linked to the shootings. The firearm will be taken for ballistic test to determine if it was used in the commission of crime.
Police management is concerned about the proliferation of firearms in Alexandra and operations to recover such weapons are continuing.
Khayelitsha killings
In Western Cape, the death of three men aged 34, 36 and 50 respectively, is being investigated by the police. Findings established that they were murdered Saturday night on the corner of Nyebelele and Ntango Streets in Site C, according to the police.
“At this stage, it is not yet clear what led to the attack on the victims,” the police said in a press release.
In different attack, gunmen on Saturday, besieged Tutu Avenue, Makhaza, in Harare township at about 9.35 pm killing two men driving in a blue Hyundai sedan.
One of the victims died on the scene, the other died later in hospital. However, police suspected the killings to be linked to drug deals in the area.
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