Cops targeted in Boksburg shootout

Two police officers narrowly escaped injury after a shootout when they responded to a Boksburg robbery.

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Johannesburg - Two police officers narrowly escaped injury after a dramatic car chase and shoot-out when they responded to a robbery at a Boksburg store.

According to police spokesman Captain Tsekiso Mofokeng, security guards alerted police when three men robbed the store around midday on Tuesday. One suspect was arrested at the scene and the other two fled in a vehicle, with the police in hot pursuit.

The officers arrested the two men and recovered goods and cash that were stolen from the shop. Their car was also recovered, although Mofokeng did not know if it had been stolen. “No one was injured,” he said.

This is not the first time that policemen have been targeted by thugs. In January, Jordaan Voort, a member of the Ekurhuleni metro police department’s equestrian unit, was robbed and killed on his day off. His body was found at Aston Lake in Springs, where he had been fishing. His Nissan Navara bakkie, 9mm Glock (service) pistol, wallet and cellphone were taken.

In March last year, constables Mthokoziseni Myeza and Maishe Mafokoane were killed and Constable Steven Mafanelo was critically injured after they stopped a car at the N3 Edenvale offramp. The officers were shot at by the heavily armed gang inside the car. In the same month, a group of 12 men shot and killed Constable Frans Ledwaba during a business robbery at Joburg’s Park station.

In July, a police officer was fatally shot during a shootout in Jeppestown.

In the same month, a Joburg metro cop, who came across a robbery in Rosettenville Junction on his way home, was killed after the robbers shot him twice.

gabi.falanga@inl.co.za

@Gabi_Falanga

The Star