Escaped prisoners shot dead
TWO OF the five awaiting-trial prisoners who escaped from a police truck last month were shot dead in a gunfight with officers in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, yesterday.
The driver was wounded during the daring attack. The rest were still on the run.
Gauteng police commissioner Deliwe de Lange launched a manhunt, led by a team of detectives.
The suspects had appeared at the high court in Joburg on February 5 in connection with the killing of three policemen in 2015, and armed robbery.
“While information on the circumstances surrounding this shooting is yet to be confirmed, one of the deceased has been confirmed as one of the five escaped awaiting-trial prisoners. The second was also on the list of the SAPS’s most wanted suspects after escaping in June last year,” De Lange said. She commended the “tireless efforts” of police.
The two were shot dead in a shootout.
The suspects had since been linked to several other crimes in Gauteng. These included a business robbery at an Engen garage in Springs, where an Ekurhuleni metro police department (EMPD) member was shot dead on February 13.
“One other suspect was arrested within 24 hours of the Springs incident, and a high-calibre firearm was recovered with ammunition after a joint intelligence-driven operation. This suspect as well as the two deceased have been linked to at least six crimes committed in Springs, Hillbrow, Dobsonville, Diepkloof, Randburg and Florida between 2017 and 2018,” she added.
“In the wake of heightened attacks on police officers, the possibility that these suspects could be involved in other police killings cannot be overruled, considering the death of the EMPD officer and three other SAPS members who were killed between June 2017 and February 2018. At the same time, police will also be investigating possible linkages to other violent crimes committed in Gauteng and beyond,” De Lange said.
Four high-calibre firearms were recovered – two AK-47s, one R-4 and one 9mm pistol belonging to the deceased EMPD constable. The latter two firearms and one AK-47 were recovered at the scene of the shooting in Newcastle, police said.