The alertness and quick reaction by Durban Flying Squad members has resulted in the recovery of a hijacked vehicle, an AK 47 rifle, a pistol, 40 live rounds of ammunition and the arrest of two suspects. Members were conducting their normal crime prevention duties when they spotted a suspicious looking vehicle with two occupants at Effingham area. They gave chase and its occupants started shooting at the police. Police retaliated; suspects collided into a heavy duty truck and alighted from the vehicle while shooting at the police. Both suspects were wounded and were taken to hospital for medical treatment under police guard. Police seized two firearms, a pistol with 10 live rounds of ammunition, an AK 47 rifle with 30 live rounds of ammunition and it was discovered that the VW Golf vehicle they were travelling in was robbed at Durban North where a 31-year-old woman and her family were robbed of their vehicle at the Crescent, Umhlanga by suspects wearing balaclavas and blue overalls.
Suspects aged 25 and 32 will be charged for attempted murder, possession of unlicensed firearms as well as ammunition and they will also be linked to the Umhlanga armed robbery. They will appear at Verulam Magistrates’ Court as soon as they are discharged from hospital. The seized firearms will be sent to ballistics to ascertain if it has been used in the commission of any other crime in the country.
KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant Mmamonnye Ngobeni applauded Flying Squad members for the seizure of the firearms and the arrest of the criminals. “We are confident that that the recovery of these firearms will assist us in solving a lot of murder and attempted murder cases that we are investigating and these arrests will also solve many armed robbery cases that had occurred in the Durban and the surrounding areas,” she said.
