Dad screamed like never before

2006-04-26 08:57

Eduan Roos

Johannesburg - More than 30 shells and the shattered windows of two cars bore testimony on Tuesday to the raging gun battle between three robbers and a young man trying to save his father.

When all the shooting was over, the three intruders lay dead at the Bertrams' house they had been trying to rob in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The 23-year-old, who does not want to be identified for fear of revenge attacks, described the gunfight between him and the band of robbers to Beeld on Tuesday, just a few hours after police officers removed the bodies of the three men.

Police officers were still searching the house on Tuesday afternoon, while scores of chalk marks and bullet holes testified to the drama that had taken place.

The windows of two cars were also shattered by bullets when ''more than 30 shots were fired''.

''The police don't protect us and the new firearms act empowers only the criminals,'' said the young man.

Overpowered dad in garage

''People here are tired of crime and eventually you reach a point where you realise enough is enough - you must look after your people yourself.''

The robbers, armed with 9mm firearms and knives, overpowered the man's 60-year-old father about 05:30 in the family's garage as he was about to leave for the filling station he runs in Germiston on the East Rand.

''I heard my dad screaming as he'd never screamed before and I took my firearm and ran to him,'' said the man who works for his father.

''My room has an exit leading to the garage and the robbers clearly didn't know about it.

"When I came outside, one of the men held a knife to my dad's throat and said he must shut up or he'd kill him like a dog.''

The young man began wrestling with this attacker and in the process, dropped his firearm.

''I tried to pick it up and the thief rushed at my dad with the knife again. I pulled the trigger and hit the thief and soon after that he collapsed,'' he said.

Meanwhile, the man's 54-year-old mother found the two other robbers in the house.

She said: ''I locked myself in the main bedroom, while they shot wildly at me.

"I phoned the police, because I thought my husband and son were both already dead.''

Her son said he could hear the shots in the house, and, when he looked up, a robber started firing at him from the kitchen door.

'The gun didn't go off'

''I hid behind my dad's bakkie and returned fire,'' he said.

This robber was wounded in the chest and fled up to the front door. He kicked down the safety gate to get away, but died at the gate.

''I didn't know if anyone was still in the house and I went back to my room to reload and see if my mom had been hurt,'' said the badly-shaken son.

''The third robber was waiting in my room and pointed his gun at me.

"He pulled the trigger, but the gun didn't go off. I quickly reloaded and shot him in the head.''

Inspector Mosima Mangyani said a murder docket had been opened by police.

''It's too soon to say whether the man will be prosecuted, since the investigation must be completed first to determine if he acted in self-defence,'' she said.

- Beeld