'Want to see something cool?'
2008-08-18 23:11
Leané du Plessis and Amanda Roestoff
Johannesburg - "You want to see something cool?"
Then, in front of his classmates, a "posessed" and masked matric pupil slashed open the neck of a fellow pupil at Nic Diederichs Technical High School in Krugersdorp.
"Watch out! He's lost it!" pupils shouted as the Grade 12 learner pulled out what looked like a Samurai sword and slashed the neck of Jacques Pretorius, 16.
Pupils said the pupil was "possessed by the devil" when he began his violent attack at about 07:20.
"Do you want to see something cool?" he apparently said to a matric girl moments before he sliced through Pretorius's carotid artery.
Pretorius's best friend, 16-year-old JC Welman, was standing next to him when he was attacked.
Thought it was a joke
"I was still wondering if it wasn't a joke but then I saw the blood bubbling out of his neck," Welman said, in tears.
Pretorius died on the scene, said Netcare 911 spokesperson Mark Stokoe.
Stunned pupils told how the pupil, wearing his school uniform and a black-and-brown mask, walked down the passage and swung his sword about.
He also injured two workers at the school during his rampage and slashed another pupil, Stefan Bouwer, 17.
Face smeared black
The pupil finally pressed the blade of the sword into the ground in a small garden next to the school courtyard and sat down.
He pulled off his mask when teachers approached. Under the mask, his face had been smeared black with polish.
"What happened? What happened?" the dazed boy asked the teachers, who took him to the staff room.
"Satan said he is going to kill me if I don't kill them before the end of the day," he apparently had said earlier.
Pupils sent home
Pupils were already in assembly when they heard the police sirens.
"A teacher came in after the prayer and said we had to go home until further notice," a pupil said.
A reliable source said the attacker had brought four masks, similar to those worn by the heavy metal band Slipknot, in his school bag.
Apparently he was also carrying three swords.
The source said one of the masks was white, similar to that of Slipknot's drummer Joey.
Another mask was a clown mask, similar to band member Shawn's, and the third mask was a gasmask as worn by the DJ, Sid.
During the attack the pupil apparently wore the mask that is similar to the one belonging to the lead singer Corey.
Wanted friends to join him
Apparently he tried to persuade a few of his friends to join him in the rampage.
He reportedly told them: "Today is the day you can get back at those who were against you."
He apparently also used words such as "masquerade" and "bloodbath".
His friends said his eyes were red and black "like those of a crazy person".
Welman was supported on Monday by his father Johan, his mother Christine and his friend JP Britz, 17.
"We (Pretorius and Welman) met each other just after 07:00 at the tree (near the school's main gate), like we do every day.
"We walked to the tuck shop. He bought me a red Foxi Nax and we ate it on the stairs next to the tuck shop," Welman said.
They were on their way to the hall when the attack occurred, Welman said.
Welman ran away and phoned his father from his cellphone.
'I kept talking to him'
A few minutes later his father arrived at the school and accompanied him back to where Pretorius was.
"I kept talking to him, because I was scared he would lapse into a coma.
"I held his leg ... his eyes were open, but I could see it was already too late," Welman said.
Pretorius's friends and family stood outside the family's house, their eyes red from crying.
Elize Froneman, the acting director of the West Rand Department of Education, referred all questions to the Gauteng Department of Education.
Daniëlla du Plooy reports that Panyaza Lesufi, who visited the school on Monday, said it was "a sad day for the department".
"We have been confronted with a lot of school violence recently, but nothing of this nature.
"We'll do everything in our power to control the situation and to prevent similar incidents."
Second suspect
Beeld was told confidentially that the pupil and another 18-year-old boy were arrested on Monday.
However, police spokesperson Jacob Raboroko could only confirm one arrest.
The suspect(s) are expected to appear in the Krugersdorp Magistrate's Court on Tuesday on charges of murder and attempted murder.