Gardener held for robber’s death
A foot chase in Durban ended with a suspected burglar shot in the head and a gardener arrested for murder.
|||Durban - There was drama on Durban’s Berea on Tuesday when a foot chase ended with a man - understood to be a suspected house burglar - being shot in the head and an elderly gardener arrested.
The Daily News arrived at the scene in Peter Mokaba (North Ridge) Road, at midday, just as police were leading the murder-accused gardener into a police van.
He appeared to be in distress as he tried to explain himself to officers.
The body of the man he allegedly shot had already been removed and a portion of the south-bound lane was cordoned off with yellow tape, while police combed the area for clues.
A man at the scene, who asked that his identity be withheld, recounted how he understood the shooting to have occurred. He said he had a medical background.
“I was driving past and I saw a woman in a nurse’s outfit attending to a guy at the side of the road.
“She seemed to need help, so I stopped,” he said.
He assisted where he could, but the shot man had been hit in the face and died at the scene.
“While I was there, I heard that the guy who died was trying to break into a house down the road, when the gardener came out.”
A chase ensued and the gardener allegedly shot the suspected burglar, he said.
Police close to the investigation confirmed this was the accused’s claim.
A woman who lives nearby said she had heard a man shouting in Zulu: “Why? What have I done?” She said there was then a gunshot.
Police spokesman, Major Shooz Magudulela, said a case of murder had been opened at Berea police station.
He said the man who was shot was 28 years old.
“The suspect will appear in court soon,” Magudulela said.
Daily News