Durban – KwaZulu-Natal police have not been spared in the spate of violent attacks on police by well-armed criminals, with an officer badly wounded in an exchange of gunfire with ATM bombers in Mandini on Wednesday.The police sergeant had been a first responder to a report of a robbery when he came under fire.
He was wounded and remains in a serious condition in hospital.
Police spokesperson Colonel Jay Naicker confirmed that the shooting had taken place at Mandini Mall during the early hours of the morning.
“A police officer, 48, was shot by suspects who were committing a robbery. It is alleged the suspects saw his police car and opened fire, wounding the officer on the right shoulder.
“He was taken to hospital in a stable condition. A security guard was robbed of his firearm. Windows at the mall were damaged in the exchange of fire.
“A case of attempted murder, armed robbery and malicious damage to property was opened at Mandeni [police station] for investigation and no arrests have been made,” Naicker added.
In another incident, News24 reported that two men shot dead a police constable and assaulted another at the Orange Farm train station in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Gauteng police said the two police officers – a constable in his 30s and a warrant officer in his 40s – were visiting train station guards just after midnight when they were attacked, said Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini.
“One policeman was shot in the upper body and died at the scene. The other was seriously assaulted.”
Their firearms and the security guards’ firearms were taken before the two assailants ran away.
They are still at large.
The warrant officer is in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
PH
