National commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola has confirmed that one of the suspects police are hunting for in connection with the mass shooting at the Saulsville hostel west of Pretoria on Saturday is a parolee who was released in September.
Briefing the community and media outside the hostel on Monday, Masemola said the parolee who was in prison for various crimes including attempted murder and extortion, is known and related to some of the victims.
Masemola also said police have charged the owner of the illegal shebeen that was being run in the hostel room where the attack took place. The attack claimed 12 lives and left 13 people injured.
According to police, unknown gunmen entered the room where people were drinking and started to shoot randomly. Three of those killed were minor children, the youngest being three, and the others 12 and 16 years of age.
Police have registered 12 counts of murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.
The shooting is the latest after five people were killed and six wounded at a tavern in Bronkhorstspruit, about 60km from Pretoria, in October.
Masemola confirmed that the three suspects are still at large but said detectives are working around the clock to find them.
He said while they now have an idea of what the motive might be, officials are still investigating.
The victims are from Kwazulu-Natal and police suspect the motive for the attack might be related to taxi violence or unresolved matters stemming from their home province.
Masemola said the type of weapons used in the incident were pistols which police still had to verify whether or not were licenced.
Though scared to speak out on the attack, community members have voiced their concerns about crime in the area.
TimesLIVE
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