One police officer killed‚ four others wounded in two separate attacks

A police officer was killed and four others wounded in just a matter of hours before dawn on Monday in two separate attacks in Gauteng and the Western Cape‚ police said.

Police said that two police constables from Dobsonville‚ Johannesburg‚ were conducting patrols in Braamfischerville when they were shot at and wounded by suspects using pistols and rifles. The police officers managed to summon backup and a K9 unit responded. The members from the K9 Unit also came under fire from the gunmen which resulted in a shootout.

“The suspects tried to escape in two vehicles and one of the cars crashed into a house; the suspects jumped out of the cars and fled on foot. One suspect was shot and killed during an exchange of gunfire but the others escaped and are being sought by police.

“Both wounded police officers were taken to hospital but one officer later succumbed to his injuries and passed away. It was later discovered that the suspects had bombed an automated teller machine (ATM) at a service station within the Braamfischerville area‚” police said.

Almost simultaneously in the Western Cape‚ they said‚ three constables from Nyanga police station in Cape Town‚ aged 26‚ 32 and 44 years‚ as well as a security guard‚ were shot and wounded during a robbery at a tavern in Browns Farm.

“Our members were responding to the robbery when they came under fire. Members of the Special Task Force were summoned to the scene to extract the armed suspects who were hiding in the tavern. During this intervention the four suspects aged between 33 and 35 years were arrested and one firearm was confiscated.

“The wounded police officers and the security guard are reportedly in a stable condition in hospital‚” police said.

“These attacks on police officers as they serve and protect the communities seem to continue unabated and they should be strongly condemned by all sectors of society‚” they added.