Man arrested for Westbury shooting

Citizen reporter

A 32-year-old man was arrested on Sunday in connection with the murder of 41-year-old Heather Peterson, who died after getting caught up in a shoot-out in the suburb of Westbury, Johannesburg.

Her killing led to the recent unrest in the area.

The suspect was also arrested in connection with the attempted murder of Peterson’s 10-year-old niece, who survived the crossfire of a gun battle between alleged drug dealers in the suburb.

Peterson was buried earlier this month.

The suspect is due to appear at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court soon.

South African Police Service (Saps) spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubela said the suspect was arrested following a joint intelligence-driven operation on Sunday afternoon.

“Police operationalised information from the community and traced the suspect to a house in Krugersdorp, where he was arrested,” Makhubela said.

Makhubela added that members of the public are encouraged to continue to report crime to any police station or by calling the Saps Crime Stop number 0860010111.

Violent and destructive protests sparked by the killing of Peterson broke out in Westbury recently, which led to Police Minister Bheki Cele’s intervention.

The Westbury community had raised concerns about the high prevalence of drugs, gang-related violence and corrupt police officers, who are allegedly bribed to turn a blind eye to criminal activity.