Three suspects killed, three cops injured in shoot-outs with police

11 September 2024 - 12:53 By TIMESLIVE
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Three suspects were killed and three police officers injured during shoot-outs in KwaZulu-Natal. File photo.
Three suspects were killed and three police officers injured during shoot-outs in KwaZulu-Natal. File photo.
Image: 123RF

Three suspects wanted for murder, attempted murder and hijacking were killed and three police officers were injured in shoot-outs on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda said police responded to reports of a minibus taxi which was hijacked in the Mariannhill area on Tuesday.

“The driver was dumped on Edwin Swales Drive and police caught up with the hijacked minibus taxi on Cato Manor Road. Realising the presence of police officers, the passenger in the hijacked minibus taxi started shooting and the police retaliated. ”

The driver abandoned the vehicle and fled while the passenger, who continued shooting at the police, died during the shoot-out.

Netshiunda said the suspect was found with a gun and another firearm was found in the taxi.  

In a second incident, two police officers were shot and injured by a suspect in Okhalweni area in KwaMaphumulo, north of Durban, in the early hours on Wednesday.

“Police were searching for a suspect wanted for serious violent crimes including murder and cash in transit robberies when they received intelligence about his whereabouts.

“When police pounced on him at the identified residence, the suspect refused to open and as soon as police used minimum force to gain entry into the house, the suspect opened fire, injuring two police officers,” Netshiunda said.

He said the suspect died during the gun battle and a firearm was recovered. 

“The injured police officers, a captain and a warrant officer, were taken to hospital”

Netshiunda said a suspect wanted for the murder and attempted murder of a husband and wife died during a shoot-out with police in Cato Manor in the early hours on Wednesday.

He said the suspect shot at the couple in a block of flats on Mansel Road in Durban last week. The couple’s three-year-old child survived the shooting unharmed.

“The suspect was traced to a shack in Cato Crest. When police arrived, the suspect opened fire and during the shoot-out he was fatally wounded. A firearm was found in his possession. A police officer was treated at the scene after he sustained a minor injury resulting from a bullet which went through his bullet-resistant vest.”

TimesLIVE


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