Nightmare for festival-goers
2009-07-06 09:11
Nelspruit - A member of a gang of robbers was fatally shot on Friday afternoon after the gang attacked festival-goers at Innibos in Nelspruit.
Leona van Lingen and her husband Willie had arrived in Nelspruit from Gauteng a mere hour before the shooting took place.
"If we hadn't had a firearm with us, things would probably have turned out much worse for us," said Willie.
According to Nelspruit police, the Van Lingens, Betsie Zwart and a Ms Van Wyk had parked their car on the festival grounds shortly after their arrival.
They'd planned to see a show at Nelspruit High School, and set off for the venue, about 4km away, on foot at around 16:40.
About 800m from the festival grounds, further down in Piet Retief street, the four attackers apparently passed the group as they were walking on a causeway.
"All of a sudden they turned around and stormed at us. One of them grabbed Betsie's handbag," Willie said. "She fought back. One of the attackers pulled out a knife and tried to stab her."
Leona had apparently taken out her revolver at some stage. A shot was fired and the alleged robber was hit in the chest. He died instantly. The other three suspects fled.
When police arrived, the knife was still in the dead robber’s hand. Leona was in a severe state of shock and had to have trauma counselling.
"Under the circumstances, she’s doing better now," said her husband on Sunday afternoon. The family returned home on Saturday morning.
Dawie Pretorius, police spokesperson, confirmed that the shooting is being investigated. As soon as the case has been fully investigated, the dossier will be sent to the senior state prosecutor to determine whether someone should be charged, said Pretorius.