Home on plush school estate hit by armed robbers

Despite being on a plush gated estate‚ the home of a deputy rector at one of the country's elite schools was hit by armed robbers in the early hours of Monday morning.

In a notice to parents of Michaelhouse‚ in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands‚ the school's rector‚ Paul Fleischack‚ confirmed that three men - at least one armed - broke into the home of Allan Laing‚ a deputy rector at the school. Laing‚ his wife‚ child and his in-laws were held up at gun point.

"At approximately 1.30am [Monday] three intruders‚ of which at least one was armed‚ entered the home of Allan and Caireen Laing and held up the family. Caireen managed to alert Ballid Security who responded promptly‚ along with the SAPS. The intruders fled and opened fire on the guards who returned fire and apprehended two of the suspects within 100 metres of the house. Other intruders fled on foot. A while later a suspected getaway car was apprehended on the R103 and the two occupants were arrested‚" the notice to parents said.

It continued that the boys at the school were not near the incident‚ nor the shootout.

"Most of the shooting took place in the vicinity of the Laings' home and not near the boys’ dorms. All boys and staff are safe‚" said Fleischack.

The Laing family was unharmed.

School spokesman Murray Witherspoon told TimesLIVE on Monday evening that another suspect had been arrested.

He said the family was "shaken" but was okay.

"You don’t expect something like that to happen in environment like this. It just goes to show that we are no different to people on the other side of the gates‚" he said.