Bizarre scuffle leads to fatal N3 shooting

According to a witness who would not be named, three men driving a Golf pulled over a minibus taxi on the off-ramp and told the driver to get out.

“I am not really sure what happened next. I had my back towards them and I heard a single gunshot and when I turned around I saw a man from the Golf had been shot in the chest.”

With most of the witnesses disappearing from the scene as the police arrived and the suspects gone, police began to piece together confusing accounts of the crime.

A police source who would not be named said it was believed that a man in the taxi had been involved in an armed robbery in Howick on Thursday morning and the occupants of the Golf had caught wind of the stolen goods and which taxi they would be on.

It is believed the three men decided to rob the man in the taxi of his stolen goods and followed him from Howick to Pietermaritzburg where they pulled him over to try and take the valuables.

A scuffle then ensued and one of the occupants of the Golf was shot in the chest.

The single bullet from the shot struck the taxi.

The man in the taxi fled while the surviving occupants of the Golf sped off in another direction, leaving their injured accomplice behind.

KZN police spokesperson Major Thulani Zwane said it was unclear what had happened, however a police interview with the taxi driver revealed the taxi picked up two men in Howick and drove onto the N3 towards Pietermaritzburg.

“While the taxi was on the N3, a Golf GTI with three men appeared next to the taxi and signalled for the driver to pull over.”

Zwane said the driver eventually pulled over when they reached the off-ramp and the three men from the Golf approached the taxi.

“The men approached the two Howick men demanded money and cellphones.”

An argument ensued and one of the men from the taxi produced a gun and shot one of the men from the Golf.

All those involved fled the scene and the taxi driver was later found in Howick.

A case of murder has been opened.