The four suspects killed in a shootout with police in Sydenham on Wednesday, were enroute to execute a hit on a businessman, who was on his way to deposit a large sum of cash at a local bank.
Provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, said the surviving suspect has been charged and firearms recovered by police have been sent for ballistic testing.
“Through information and witnesses who have come forward, some of the suspects have been linked to hits in the construction industry,” Mkhwanazi said, addressing media at a briefing on Friday.
He said the gang learnt that the businessman and his two bodyguards were going to deposit a large sum of money at a local bank.
IOL previously reported that a multidisciplinary team consisting of police officers from the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) Provincial Tracking Team, DPCI Anti-Gang Unit, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Tactical Response Team (TRT), the Pietermaritzburg K9 Unit as well as private security personnel had been tracing the suspects, who were wanted for various violent crimes including cash-in-transit robberies and murders.
KZN police spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda, said the driver defied police instructions and the occupants of the vehicle opened fire towards the police as they sped off.
“A shootout ensued and the suspects’ vehicle crashed against the wall at the corner of Moses Kotane and Barns roads.
“All four suspects sustained fatal gunshot wounds inside the vehicle. The fifth suspect got out of a moving vehicle and was shot and injured,” he said.
Mkhwanazi urged business people to refrain from driving around with large sums of money.
IOL News