Cops find body after shoot-out
2006-06-25 16:39
Johannesburg - A man who apparently helped steal a van in Vrede in the Free State on Saturday night has been shot dead, apparently by the cops, said provincial police officers.
The man and an accomplice allegedly stole Liebenberg Cilliers's white Mazda van at Royleng flats in Vrede about 01:30.
Police looked for Cilliers' van in the Vrede vicinity and surrounding towns, said superintendent Motarafi Ntepe.
She said Cilliers' van was allegedly on the R103 road between Warden and Villiers, with two people inside it.
When the men saw the police, they abandoned the van and ran away, shooting as they fled.
The police returned fire, and allegedly shot one man in his back. Vrede traffic officials found the body lying at the side of the road.
The police were investigating a case of theft of a motor vehicle and attempted murder and the independent complaints directorate was probing the man's death, said Ntepe.
- SAPA