Attacks on police officers condemned

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

The South African Police Service management has urged communities to help in efforts to stem attacks on police officers.

On Monday, one police officer was killed and four others wounded in two separate incidents in Gauteng and Western Cape respectively.

In Gauteng, two police constables from Dobsonville were conducting patrols in Braamfischerville when they were shot at and wounded by suspects using pistols and rifles.

The police officers managed to summon backup and a K9 unit responded. The members from the K9 Unit also came under fire from the gunmen, which resulted in a shootout.

“The suspects tried to escape in two vehicles and one of the cars crashed into a house. The suspects jumped out of the cars and fled on foot. One suspect was shot and killed during an exchange of gunfire but the others escaped and are being sought by police,” police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said.

Both wounded police officers were taken to hospital but one officer later succumbed to his injuries and passed away.

It was later discovered that the suspects had bombed an automated teller machine (ATM) at a service station within the Braamfischerville area.

In the Western Cape, three constables from Nyanga police station aged 26, 32 and 44 years, as well as a security guard, were shot and wounded during a robbery at a tavern in Browns Farm.

“Our members were responding to the robbery when they came under fire. Members of the Special Task Force were summoned to the scene to extract the armed suspects, who were hiding in the tavern. During this intervention, the four suspects, aged between 33 and 35 years, were arrested and one firearm was confiscated,” said Naidoo.

The wounded police officers and the security guard are in a stable condition in hospital.

Naidoo said these attacks on police officers as they serve and protect communities must be strongly condemned by all sectors of society.

“An attack on one officer is an attack on the nation. We cannot remain silent when those who are out there, risking their lives to protect us, are killed. Let us speak out, let us talk about these heinous crimes, and let us do so in memory of those who have already died fighting for our safety and security,” said Naidoo. – SAnews.gov.za