Man shot by eight-year-old granddaughter regains consciousness

Police are hopeful that a Randfontein man who was accidentally shot in the head by his eight-year-old granddaughter early on Tuesday morning will soon be able to tell his side of the story.

According to Randfontein SAPS station commander Brigadier Jacob Manamela‚ the man regained consciousness on Thursday and his statement could put to rest speculation about how the shooting occurred.

The victim of the shooting has not been identified‚ but it has been confirmed that he is 46 years old‚ in contrast to paramedics’ reports that he was an elderly man.

Manamela said police were yet to receive an official report from doctors at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital‚ where the man is being treated‚ but that they were extremely hopeful he would make a full recovery soon.

Previously ER24 reported that they had been summoned to the Helikon Park home where they found an elderly man in bed with a gunshot wound to the head. According to ER24’s Russel Meiring‚ the man was stabilised at the scene before being airlifted to hospital.

Manamela meanwhile said that the man had been sleeping with his firearm under his pillow.

Sources close to the matter told TimesLIVE on Wednesday that it was understood the child and her sibling were playing on the bed when the gun fell onto the ground‚ and the child might have mistaken it for a toy.

This could not be independently verified‚ as a close family member refused to speak about the incident when contacted by TimesLIVE on Thursday.

She did not wish for herself or the family to be identified and would only say that information released by paramedics and police was incorrect.

Manamela described the incident as unfortunate‚ adding that it had happened in an area of Randfontein that was not a high-crime zone.

“I don’t have much crime in Helikon Park. I think in the last week we had two incidents of theft of a motor vehicle. So there is not much crime. It’s just unfortunate that this incident happened‚” Manamela said.

“Generally‚ there isn’t much crime in Helikon Park.”

EPR Security general manager Johan Krog‚ whose company has a strong presence in Randfontein‚ corroborated Manamela’s statements.

“It’s hard to say. In the areas that we service‚ crime is generally quite active and you can’t really highlight one area above another‚” Krog told TimesLIVE on Thursday.

He added that Helikon Park was not exceptionally prone to house break-ins. “It doesn’t stand out above any other areas we service. But in Randfontein generally crime is high. We handle on average 40 incidents a week.”