KZN cop killed in jewellery heist was preparing for son’s 10th birthday

On Tuesday, Sgt Riyadh Adams and his family would have celebrated his son’s 10th birthday with cake and presents.

Instead, his family are in mourning after laying the 41-year-old policeman to rest on Monday. Adams was shot dead outside the Pavilion shopping centre after a brazen co-ordinated robbery at two jewellery stores on Sunday. 

More than a hundred friends, relatives and colleagues gathered at his Mayville home to bid farewell to the policeman of more than 16 years.

Adams’s sister, Nadia, said the family was still in shock about what had happened, and it was difficult to accept his sudden passing.

“It’s one of those moments where one finds it difficult to cope. Everyone is not doing well. We are trying to be strong, but it’s hard. His little boy has been crying non-stop. It’s hard because it will be his birthday tomorrow [Tuesday], and they were looking forward to celebrating his 10th birthday together. The older one, 16, is not doing well either. It’s very painful and difficult,” she said.

According to ALS Paramedics spokesperson Garrith Jamieson, two others were injured inside the mall on Sunday.

Jamieson said that when they arrived, paramedics found two separate and active crime scenes.

“The first was at the robots before the mall, where a police member was shot. He was in a critical condition and was rushed to a nearby hospital. Unfortunately, due to his injuries, he passed away a short while later,” said Jamieson.

Jamieson said they treated and transported two females, one pregnant, who were assaulted during the robbery.

KZN provincial police spokesperson Col Robert Netshiunda said police in Westville are searching for a group of suspects in connection with two cases of business robbery and murder.

Netshiunda said information at the police’s disposal indicated that a suspect, who posed as a customer, entered a jewellery store and at least four other suspects quickly followed him.

He said the suspects then overpowered the staff and robbed them of an undisclosed amount of jewellery.

“Simultaneously, another group of suspects stormed into another jewellery store and also robbed an undisclosed amount of gold jewellery. On their way out of the mall, the suspects came across a police vehicle and started firing shots towards an officer who succumbed to gunshot injuries. It was established that the suspects had robbed two security guards of their firearms,” said Netshiunda.

Netshiunda said the suspects fled the scene in two getaway vehicles: a bakkie and a silver Toyota Etios.

He was an outstanding policeman who loved his job. He was always for the community, knew what was happening in the area and would make sure criminals didn’t do as they pleased.

—  Ricardo Barnabas, boyhood friend

Nadia said a friend of hers called and told her about a shooting in Pavilion shopping centre where a police officer was killed.

She said she was not worried because when he spoke to her brother during the day, he was at a voting registration station.

She said that when she got another call from his commander, telling them to come to the Westville Hospital, she suspected that something had happened to Adams.

“When we got there, he had passed away. My brother was very loving and dedicated to his job. I mean, I grew up with him, and from a very young age, all he wanted was to be a police officer. He would go the extra mile to help another person, and he always put other people first. Even here in the community, everyone knew him because he was good at his job and loved his job,” she said.

Adams’s boyhood friend, Ricardo Barnabas, who is a metro policeman, said he was “heartbroken” by the loss. 

He said that growing up, Adams didn’t want to be anything else besides a police officer, and when he eventually became one, he dedicated his life to it.

“He was an outstanding policeman who loved his job. He was always for the community, knew what was happening in the area and would make sure criminals didn’t do as they pleased. I remember when I was in college, he helped me so much. I don’t cry much, but last night, I cried till I fell asleep,” said Barnabas.

Last month, police minister Bheki Cele, speaking at the funeral of 41-year-old SAPS anti-gang unit member Dalmain Morris, who was shot and killed while taking a witness statement in Westbury, said 31 policemen had been killed in the past three months.

A few weeks after Morris’s death, warrant officer Sthembiso Mazibuko, of the national intervention unit, was shot and killed during a shoot-out with suspects in Ntuzuma. Four of the suspects were killed in that police operation.

The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) in KZN said it was about time Cele engaged the lawmakers and the president to declare attacks on police an act of treason.

Popcru’s Bonga Mthembu said matters around the police killings were discussed in their annual conference in Durban last week.

“We addressed this matter with the leadership of the police, the minister and the president. The issue of police killings speaks to the lack of manpower because police can’t respond to a scene in large numbers.

“We have a problem with manpower shortages, which is not being addressed. We lost a very important member of the police force, who was experienced and loved his job. Police leadership should now stop talking but rather engage lawmakers to treat such a crime as treason because it’s an attack on the state,” said Mthembu.