Cape Town — South African Police Services (SAPS) officers in Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) were involved in a shootout with suspects who were wanted for a series of extortion and murder cases.
In a statement, police revealed that the three suspects were shot and killed in two separate shootouts in the eThekwini District on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning.
“On Wednesday afternoon, police followed up information regarding the whereabouts of a suspect who was wanted for at least four cases of extortion and another four counts of murder which he allegedly committed in KwaNdengezi and Mariannhill areas,” KZN police spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda, said.
“When police arrived at a house at Gilebe in Inanda, the suspect fired shots at the police and during the shootout, the suspect was shot and fatally wounded. He was found in possession of a 7.65 pistol with four rounds of ammunition,” he added.
#sapsKZN [FIGHT AGAINST EXTORTION] Three suspects who were #wanted for a string of #extortion and murder cases in the eThekwini District were shot and fatally wounded in two separate incidents of shootouts with police in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday afternoon and the early hours of… pic.twitter.com/UHvs6z0jWM
— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) October 3, 2024
In the other incident, police uncovered the hideout of two suspects who were also wanted for extortion and murder cases. The suspects were cornered at the Edabe informal settlement in Tshelimnyama in Mariannhill, and the suspects shot at police from inside the house.
“In self-defence, police returned fire and during the shootout, two suspects were shot and fatally wounded. They were found in possession of two firearms. All recovered firearms will be taken for ballistic testing to ascertain if they are linked to other crime scenes,” Netshiunda said.
He added that the dead suspects were linked to the six extortion suspects who were gunned down in a police shootout in South Beach Durban last month.
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Picture: X/@SAPoliceService
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
