Shoot-out at Monte Vista centre
Monte Vista. 25.10.13. Police at the scene where a coin security who was shot dead in the attack around 2.30pm this afternoon at a business node just off Monte Vista Boulevard in Monte Vista. Picture Ian Landsberg. Monte Vista. 25.10.13. Police at the scene where a coin security who was shot dead in the attack around 2.30pm this afternoon at a business node just off Monte Vista Boulevard in Monte Vista. Picture Ian Landsberg.
Cape Town - A security guard was killed and another seriously injured when a gang of robbers attacked a cash-in-transit van in Monte Vista Boulevard.
Police spokesman Colonel Thembinkosi Kinana confirmed a case of murder, attempted murder and armed robbery had been opened after the incident at the Monte Vista Shopping Centre on Friday afternoon.
Three security guards from the Protea Coin Group had just restocked several ATMs when, police believe, they were attacked by between three and five armed men, who had arrived in a bakkie.
In the shoot-out that followed, one of the guards was killed. A second was seriously injured and rushed to hospital.
The robbers fled empty-handed in their bakkie immediately after the shoot-out.
A witness who worked at a shop in the mall, and who wished to remain anonymous, said he was terrified and took cover with his colleagues.
“We didn’t know where the shots were coming from, so we stayed in the store until everything died down.
“We eventually headed outside and saw one of the security guards lying on the floor.”
A large crowd had gathered by the time police and paramedics arrived about 15 minutes later but it was too late for the guard.
Kinana said police soon found the robbers’ abandoned vehicle but he was unable to give a description, due to conflicting reports.
Efforts to contact the Protea Coin Group for comment proved fruitless on Friday.
kowthar.solomons@inl.co.za
Weekend Argus