Three women shot during hijack
Taxi hijack pair among 3 000 people arrested
Two men were arrested yesterday after they allegedly hijacked a minibus and shot three passengers in Soweto.
The three female passengers survived the attack and are currently treated in hospital.
Gauteng police spokesman Captain Mavela Masondo yesterday said the suspects were nabbed in Parktown, Johannesburg, and would be charged with attempted murder, being in possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, and being in possession of a hijacked vehicle.
“It is alleged that two men boarded a taxi in Soweto and thereafter pointed the driver of a Quantum with a firearm, demanding his car keys.
“The driver managed to jump out of the vehicle and ran away. The suspects then shot three passengers before driving-off with the Quantum. Police responded quickly to the information and the hijacked car was spotted in Parktown,” Masondo said.
“The suspects shot at the police as they were stopping them; police shot back and one suspect was wounded and taken to hospital under police guard while the second suspect was detained.”
The two suspects form part of more than 3 000 people who were nabbed at the weekend, a majority of whom for possession of unlicensed firearms and others for driving under the influence of alcohol.
During the arrests, the police recovered more than 50 firearms, including pistols and automatic rifles.
“The operations included roadblocks, stop and search, tracing of wanted suspects, raiding of premises suspected to be harbouring drug lords and raiding of illegal liquor outlets.
He said the police conducted various operations in Johannesburg and arrested more than 365 suspects.
“These suspects were arrested for crime ranging from armed robbery to assault.
“Swift response by the police led to the recovery of hijacked vehicles just few minutes after they were hijacked.
A BMW was hijacked in Brixton on Saturday and recovered by police in Alexandra while the victim was still opening a case docket.
“In a separate incident, Johannesburg police received information about the vehicle hijacked in Blue Hills Mall and went on a lookout,” he said.
“The hijacked vehicle was spotted in Marlboro, northern Johannesburg, and intercepted, the driver was arrested,” Masondo said.