Rage erupts on Westbury roads

TARGETING POLICE: GANG VIOLENCE KILLS BYSTANDER

A woman shot by police is in hospital; two residents are arrested.

Protests in Westbury turned bloody yesterday when a woman was shot in the leg by police who descended on the township in their numbers. Residents were up in arms from dawn protesting the fatal shooting of a woman on Thursday. She was hit by a stray bullet during a shootout between gangs. Her 10-year-old daughter was also hurt and is in hospital.

Westbury has been rocked by serious drug abuse and gun violence problems, which culminated in the fatal shooting. A suspect was shot and injured and is under police guard in hospital.

Yesterday, irate residents said the situation was being compounded by corrupt police officers whom they accused of colluding with drug dealers and other criminals in Westbury.

The protesters burned tyres and blocked roads in the area. Protestor Grace Mattera was shot in the leg by the police. Speaking from hospital, she said she suspected she had been hit by “live ammunition” because her ankle had an “open wound”.

She said at first police used teargas, but at some stage during the meleé she realised she could not move her leg. “When I looked down there was blood everywhere.”

Her crime, she said, was to speak to reporters because she was being interviewed when she was shot.

“People have been killed and police come to take statements and photos but no one has been arrested because they work with the drug lords and they took bribes from them,” said another resident, Lorraine Davids.

Police spokesperson Lungelo Dlamini said: “Two suspects have been arrested. One woman was hit by a rubber bullet.” – ANA

Pictures: Tracy Lee Stark ALL HANDS ON DECK. Residents, including children as young as four, block roads into Westbury yesterday after a bystander was killed by a stray bullet during a gang shootout on Thursday.

DEMANDING ACTION. Westbury residents go on the ramapge to display their anger that the police have not stopped the drug abuse and gun violence plaguing the area. They accuse officers of colluding with druglords.

ACCUSATION OF POLICE GRAFT. Residents take to the streets in Westbury yesterday.

ANTI-CRIME. Burning tyres block roads in Westbury yesterday.