Secunda under siege
2003-03-17 23:07
Secunda - A day after Mpumalanga police issued a strong alert about armed robberies in Secunda, a gang killed one resident and critically injured another in a two-hour crime spree on Saturday night.
Eastern Highveld acting area commissioner Wilson Kekana issued the alert on Friday.
On Saturday night, a gang in a blue Toyota Corolla attacked two couples and a woman at gunpoint, said police spokesperson Captain Sibongile Nkosi on Monday.
In the first attack, Dewald Janse van Rensburg, 21, and his girlfriend were attacked just after parking their vehicle at his parent's house at about 19:30.
The suspects stabbed Janse van Rensburg several times before shooting him in the chest. His girlfriend ran indoors for help.
Janse van Rensburg's father and brother overpowered one of the suspects and the other three fled. Janse van Rensburg died on arrival at Highveld Medi-Clinic.
About 15 minutes later, three men in a blue Toyota Corolla robbed a 30-year-old woman of her cell phone in Andries Potgieter Street.
An hour later, at about 21:00, they robbed another couple who were strolling in the street. They stole a handbag and a watch. They fired at the man four times, hitting him in the stomach and chest.
He was rushed to Highveld Medi-Clinic and then transferred to Evander hospital.
Police spotted the suspect's car later that night in the nearby town of Trichardt, and alerted colleagues at various stations to set up roadblocks, but the suspects still escaped.
By Monday afternoon, police had still not formally charged the suspect caught during the first attack as they were still questioning him and trying to get him to name his friends. - African Eye News Service