Durban - An alleged armed hijacker has been arrested after a shoot-out between the gang he was in and the police.
The shoot-out took place at the weekend, and followed an incident last week where a driver was hijacked of his Hyundai i10 by three gunmen, who shot him in the leg and drove away.
The owner was taken to hospital and a case of attempted murder and hijacking was opened at the eManzimtoti police station.
The next day, the Mariannhill police, with the help of a tracking company, found the hijacked vehicle being driven at Tshelimnyama, Mariannhill.
The four occupants in the car were not going quietly, they fired shots at the police, who responded.
One 25-year-old suspect was injured and a firearm recovered, while the rest of the gang fled.
The wounded man was taken to hospital under police guard and he will be charged with attempted murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm .
“The firearm will be subjected to ballistic testing to ascertain if it was used in last week’s hijacking, shooting or any other crime,” said police spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane.
The provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni, applauded the partnership between the police and the tracker company, which led to the arrest of the suspect and the recovery of the weapon.
She advised the missing suspects to hand themselves in, warning “we are on their tails”.
Willies Mchunu, the MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, also welcomed the arrest of the suspect, who is expected to appear in Pinetown Magistrate’s Court soon.
He called on the public to come forward to help the police arrest the other three suspects.
“Let us together claim our space from criminals,” he said.
Daily News