She wasn’t crying, says aunt of shot girl, 5

SHE was just 40, tiny steps away from her home when a bullet struck her in the back, leaving her in a critical condition in hospital.

Five-year-old Ashline Telmarks from Hanover Park is the latest victim of suspected gang-related activity in the area. Ashline was playing in a nearby park on Tuesday evening when several shots were fired across Algoa Court.

At first, no one knew she had been hit. Her aunt, Charlotte Louw, said she heard gunfire and when she ran outside, Ashline was sitting on a step.

“She wasn’t crying, but she couldn’t talk. When I picked her up from the step, I stuck my finger into a hole in her back, and then I saw it was a bullet hole. No one knew she had been shot because she didn’t collapse or say anything,” Louw said.

A neighbour rushed Ashline to hospital, before she was transferred to Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.

According to her great-grandmother, Rachel, Ashline had lost a lot of blood and the bullet damaged her liver and kidneys.

“Before she was shot she was in the house eating grapes and playing marbles with it. She wasn’t supposed to be the victim of something like this, and we hope all will be okay and that she will come back home,” Telmarks said.

Hospital spokesperson Darren Francis said Ashline was in a critical but stable condition.

Police were investigating a case of attempted murder, spokesperson Noloyiso Rwexana said.

“Circumstances surrounding this incident are under investigation. No one has been arrested at this stage,” Rwexana said.

Anyone with information can call Crime Stop at 08600 10111.