JMPD officer shot as N1 hijacking suspects arrested
A 28-year-old Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officer has been shot in a gun battle with suspects who earlier made off with two trucks loaded with cellphones on Thursday morning.
The trucks were hijacked by a large group of armed suspects on the N1 highway, north of Johannesburg after 9am.
JMPD spokesperson, Edna Mamonyane, said that two members of the JMPD K9 branch apprehended four of the suspects after following a tracker signal to a cemetery near the Marlboro Road off-ramp in Alexandra. They were busy searching the men when they were ambushed by a second group of armed men.
IN PICTURES: Johannesburg highway shootout brings traffic to a halt Commuters in Johannesburg found themselves in the middle of a gun battle on Thursday morning after two trucks carrying cellphones were hijacked by a large group of armed suspects on the N1 highway, north of the city.
A shootout ensued and an officer was shot in the chest. In the chaos, two of the four men managed to escape with the second group, according to Mamonyane.
The injured officer was airlifted to Milpark Hospital by police helicopter.
“The officer was wearing a [bulletproof] vest but the impact of the bullet was still enough to severely injure the left side of his chest,” said Mamonyane.
JMPD officers recovered approximately R60 million worth of cellphones.
- TimesLIVE