Cop killed in bakery robbery

A POLICEMAN and four armed robbers were shot dead after officers foiled a brazen daylight robbery at a Port Elizabeth bakery yesterday.

Provincial police spokesperson Tembinkosi Kinana said that during a shootout Constable Dwane Kemp, 31, was shot in the upper body and died in hospital.

It was alleged that members of the PE Flying Squad received a tipoff about an armed robbery in progress at a bakery on the corner of Parliament and Rose streets in Central PE.

Kinana said that when police arrived shots were fired and officers returned fire.

Four of the suspects, who were in the shop, were shot dead. It’s alleged that a fifth suspect escaped.

Eastern Cape provincial police commissioner Liziwe Ntshinga has instructed that a 72-hour activation plan be implemented. The plan entails the mobilisation of critical police resources, including crime intelligence, forensic experts, detective services and tactical teams to ensure no crucial evidence and intelligence is lost.

Three firearms were recovered at the scene and will be sent to the Ballistic Unit for testing and to establish if they have been used in other similar crimes.

The police appeal to anyone with information on the outstanding suspect to contact Crime Stop on 086 00 10111.

Ntshinga expressed his condolences to the family and colleagues of the officer who died.

“An attack on the members of the SAPS is condemned in the strongest terms and attacks on the police amount to an attack on the state, and for this reason we are determined to bring those responsible to justice,” he said.