WW II veteran mowed down
2005-04-18 10:00
Johannesburg - As a young soldier, he survived World War II's D-Day and the bloody battle of Monte Cassino, but his military experience could not save Ulrich Lange, 81, from three young killers at the weekend.
Lange, a German landscape architect who came to South Africa with his wife 22 years ago, was shot dead on his smallholding in Nooitgedacht near Muldersdrift on Friday night while his neighbours looked on.
It was the third murder of a Muldersdrift resident in less than two months.
A traumatised Eduard Brix, Lange's neighbour, said on Sunday he and his wife, Babette, were visiting their friend when three young men arrived out of the blue and opened fire on them.
The Brixes arrived at Lange's house about 20:30 and were sitting around the fireplace with him.
"About 22:00, three men suddenly burst in and shouted: 'Don't move! Don't move!'"
"He (Lange) was a sniper and kept a revolver under a table in the lounge. He grabbed it and fired at them.
"They returned fire. I grabbed my pistol and ran after them. More than 20 shots were fired," an emotional Brix said.
Lange was wounded in the crossfire.
Wounded one of the assailants
Brix wounded one of the attackers, but the man managed to escape with his accomplices. Police said they had found a trail of blood.
The attackers left empty-handed.
Babette Brix remained with Lange, trying to keep him alive.
"I made him lie down on pillows and saw he had been shot in the side. I begged: 'Please Ulrich, just hold on. You were in the war, you can handle this.'"
Paramedics later told her Lange had also been wounded in the thighs and ankles.
Lange's son, who lives in a house on the smallholding, called the police and ambulance service. Help arrived about 30 minutes later.
Brix said he and Lange obtained an interdict against the Mogale City municipality two years ago because a squatter camp was erected on the smallholding opposite his.
"Why do we have such a wave of crime all of a sudden? Is it because the criminals have moved out of the city?"
Superintendent Milica Bezuidenhout for West Rand police said Lange had left his door open. She reminded people that their safety was their own responsibility.
Nobody has been arrested in connection with the murder yet.
Anyone with information about the attack can contact inspector William Mashambai on 082-335-2173 or 011-760-3189.