Teen shoots teen with dad’s pistol
Traffic official probed for gun negligence
MTHATHA police are investigating a case of negligence against a Nyandeni traffic officer after a teenager allegedly shot and killed his friend with the officer’s gun.
A 15-year-old Zimbane Valley Junior Secondary School Grade 7 pupil, who allegedly shot his 14 year-old classmate with the officer’s 9mm pistol, is still on the run.
The officer had not kept the gun in a safe but under a bed, police spokesman LieutenantColonel Mzukisi Fatyela said.
The fatal shooting happened at about 4.30pm on Thursday at Zimbane Valley township in Mthatha.
The spokesman told Saturday Dispatch that the gun had not been kept in a safe.
“There is some sort of negligence from the side of the owner of the firearm, but investigators are dealing with that,” he said.
Fatyela said the fatal shooting happened at a neighbour's house, where the two boys had been playing.
The gun was found under a bed by a younger child who had been looking for a play station, Fatyela said.
The two boys had then taken the gun from the younger child. “When they were fighting over it, it was discharged and the 14-year-old boy was fatally injured. He was hit in the upper body,”said Fatyela.
He added that the boy's lifeless body was found lying in a pool of blood outside the kitchen. Police are also investigating a case of murder.
Police raided a flat and confiscated 756 mandrax and six sachets of tik (methamphetamine) with an estimated street value of R66 480 yesterday. The cops also confiscated almost R30 000, five identity document books, 16 knives and 23 cellphones.
For years, drug dealers in the former Transkei capital have been dealing in drugs in public areas like taxi ranks and taverns.
Fatyela said a 29-year-old man and his 30 year-old girlfriend were arrested at their Chris Hani informal settlement flat in connection with the drugs.
It is suspected the man used the tavern he was running to deal in drugs, Fatyela said.
The couple was arrested as part of Operation Vulindlela, which is aimed at cracking down on crime in the east of the Kei.
The arrest of the couple followed a joint operation between crime intelligence and K9 units.
They will appear in court next week on charges of dealing in drugs and being in possession of suspected stolen goods. — lulamilef@dispatch.