'Celebrate our deaths'
2008-08-12 21:42
Thabisile Khoza
Mashishing - An Mpumalanga prison warder shot dead his girlfriend and then killed himself with his service pistol on Tuesday morning.
The 28-year-old prison warder who worked at the prison in Mashishing (formerly Lydenburg) shot his 23-year-old girlfriend four times in the chest and hand at her house at about 07:30 on Tuesday.
He was seen chasing her in the street and shot her before anyone could call the police, said provincial police spokesperson Superintendent Abie Khoabane.
He said when police arrived the couple were lying dead next to each other.
The warder, who was in full uniform, had shot himself in the head.
He left a suicide note in his pocket in which he asked his girlfriend's parents to celebrate their deaths. He accused them of not taking the couple's problems seriously. The couple had allegedly been having problems since 2006.
Murder and inquest dockets have been opened.
The names of the deceased have been withheld until their families are informed of their deaths.
- African Eye