'Bandits' kill cop at home
2008-06-11 20:25
Johannesburg - A Tembisa police constable was shot and killed by local "bandits" in the early hours of Wednesday morning, East Rand police said.
Tembisa police spokesperson Lesiba Manamela said the 30-year-old constable was shot at his Hospital View home after returning from night duty.
Manamela said an unknown number of "hardened criminals" pointed firearms at the officer and demanded his service pistol.
"A fight with the criminals ensued and the officer's brother who heard came out of the house with the intention to help his brother."
The men fought for the firearm and one of the men pulled the trigger and the constable was hit.
The perpetrators left the scene under the cover of darkness with the constable's firearm.
"The police found one firearm at the scene believed to have been used by the men," said Manamela.
Commissioner Joel Mokwena has since expressed "distress and outrage" and has instructed officers to work around the clock in an attempt to identify and locate those responsible.
"This is unfortunate and uncalled for, however, I remain optimistic that the culprits will be brought to book as a matter of extreme urgency," Mokwena said.
The shooting comes two weeks after Captain Thomas Mandiwana, 43, was gunned down during a hijacking in the Winnie Mandela section of Tembisa.
Three people were arrested and charged with hijacking and murder and the Captain's car was found in Ivory Park.
- SAPA