Manhunt for killers of off-duty Durban cop
POLICE in KwaZulu-Natal have mobilised all resources and launched a manhunt for suspects who shot dead an off-duty police officer outside a school in Umbilo, Durban, on Wednesday.
Warrant Officer Michael Jameson, 52, was picking his daughter up from school when he noticed a hijacking in progress.
He immediately placed himself on duty and responded to the incident in progress. According to the national police spokesperson, Colonel Athlenda Mathe, the two suspects noticed Jameson was armed and opened fire on him.
He returned fire, but was hit and died on the scene due to his injuries.
“Police in KZN have since mobilised all resources to track and trace down the suspects,” Mathe said.
“Two vehicles, including a vehicle that was hijacked outside the school in Umbilo and another that was hijacked in Hammersdale by the pair, have been found abandoned. “This was after the pair crashed both vehicles as they were evading arrest,” he added.
National police commissioner General Fannie Masemola said officers were working around the clock to apprehend those responsible for this murder.
“The late Warrant Officer Jameson died a hero as he died serving and protecting the people of this country. He indeed served with pride, as he placed himself on duty and put the safety of his community before his own. Let me take this opportunity to pay gratitude to the deceased member. We will not rest until his killers are traced and apprehended to answer to this callous act,” Masemola said.
In an attempted hjacking incident in Pinetown yesterday, a man believed to be around 60 years old was killed.
Netcare 911 spokesperson Shawn Herbst said they responded just after 11am to a shooting on Henderson Road, in Pinetown, west of Durban.
“Reports from the scene indicate that the driver of a light motor vehicle had been shot in what was alleged to be an attempted hijacking,” Herbst said.
In another incident on Wednesday, a man dropping off his child at school in New Germany was shot in the arm and taken to hospital.