14:37
AMABERETE shot and killed nine suspects at a house in Golden Gardens, Sebokeng in the Vaal on Thursday, 06 April.
Police Minister Bheki Cele said cops hit the safe house where a group of suspects was ready to roll, with their expensive cars including a BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz ML, and two VW Polo Vivos when cops pounced on them.
Cele said: “Eight suspects were shot dead, one was heavily wounded and died at the hospital, four were seriously injured and are under police guard. While the owner of the house, who is a parolee and supposed to be in prison, fled the scene.”
He said cops found six rifles, explosives, and a bullet vest.
Cele said cops will get clarification on how someone who is supposed to be in prison is out in the streets.
The minister said one of the suspects is from KZN and he is not surprised that he was part of the gang.
Cele said in the past three weeks, cops have been investigating a number of crime syndicates and on Thursday, they received a tip-off about cars that were ready to roll and when they arrived, the suspects started shooting at the cop's Tactical Response Team unit.
According to Cele, these suspects are well-known ATM bombers, and some are involved in cash-in-transit robberies and multiple business robberies.
One of the community members told the Daily Sun that at about 4am, they were awoken by the sound of guns from their neighbour’s house and when they inspected, they saw cops shooting at their neighbour’s house.
Another neighbour asked Cele to help her.
“Please help me in opening a case of damage to property as my house was shot at and my door was badly damaged during the shooting,” she said.
POLICE Minister Bheki Cele has arrived at Golden Gardens in Sebokeng, Vaal.
This is where nine suspects were shot dead and four were critically injured, after cops recovered six rifles, explosives and bullet proof vest.
This was during a police shoot-out with the suspects in the early hours of Thursday morning, April 6.
