A dramatic police operation in Ntuzuma ended in a fatal shootout on Monday morning, leaving five suspects dead and two others wounded.
Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said officers acting on intelligence tracked the suspects to Lindelani, where they found them gathered in two vehicles. “Information at hand indicated that the suspects were planning to commit a business robbery in KwaMashu,” Colonel Netshiunda said.
The suspects vehicles were parked at the corner of Mdubu and Melusi streets when an internal dispute erupted, resulting in gunfire among them. Police arrived at the scene and were met with hostility as the suspects turned their weapons on the officers. Law enforcement retaliated, fatally wounding four suspects on the spot.
“A search in the vicinity of the crime scene led to the discovery of the body of the fifth suspect, who had attempted to flee but succumbed to gunshot wounds,” Colonel Netshiunda confirmed. Three firearms were recovered at the scene, while police are still searching for an additional firearm believed to have been dropped by the fifth suspect near a stream.
Two more suspects, injured during the altercation, were later located at a hospital. Meanwhile, a manhunt is under way for others who managed to evade arrest.
Preliminary investigations revealed that two of the suspects, from Wentworth, had previous arrests linked to business and house robberies.
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