Suspected burglar shot dead by security guard at Pretoria school

A suspected burglar was shot dead at Lesedi Secondary School in Pretoria on Monday.

The incident happened on Monday, said Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi on his Twitter account, where he shared a communication he received from the school.

It detailed how a security guard shot the suspected intruder.

“On visiting the school in the morning, the principal indicated that three suspects were spotted through the surveillance camera, breaking into the admin block using an assortment of tools. They managed to enter and ransacked the offices, managing to sneak out a number of items, including the computers, GPN monitor, screens, speakers and other items. They were also spotted on the camera tampering with alarm systems,” the communiqué read.

The security guards said they were alerted by an alarm.

“[They] managed to move out of the guardhouse to occupy safe and strategic positions. As the suspects were jumping out of the office, one of them was shot by the security guard and died on the spot.”

The principal was called to the scene.

Police could not immediately confirm the incident.

This shooting comes after a number of break-ins at Gauteng schools.

In August 2019, the Gauteng education department said 250 schools had been hit by burglars or vandals, costing the department about R121m.

Meanwhile, the trial of alleged school burglar Johannes Luis Khumalo is yet to be concluded. Khumalo is linked to 56 school burglaries across the province.