RYNO Opperman (33), an MML Security reaction officer ,is recovering in hospital after a shootout in Birch Acres with six armed robbers on Sunday afternoon.
Opperman and his senior colleague, Flippie Kilian, were initially responding to a call regarding vagrants disturbing customers at the centre on the corner of Kwartel Street and Modderfontein Road.
“We were notified of a panic button being pressed at one of our clients’ stores just before 2pm and when we arrived, we found two homeless men that were harassing the customers.
“We removed them from the premises. We did not know that at the same time we were there, the bottle store was being robbed,” he said.
A call was then dispatched via the control room to Kilian and the two officers went to enquire at the shop and were informed of the armed robbery that had taken place a few minutes earlier.
“We gave chase and I went after them through the veld where I saw the men get into a taxi and speed off. I drove and made an attempt to block them off at the traffic light at the P91. Six armed men got out of the car and started shooting at me. They got me in the left knee but at that point I had not even noticed I had been shot,” he said.
The suspects then got back into their vehicle and Opperman and Kilian gave chase through Birch Acres where another shootout ensued.
“I think it must have been adrenalin that had me going, as I was determined on catching these guys. We ended up in Krokodil Street where there was another shootout with the suspects. I ran out of bullets and the suspects managed to escape.
“We waited for police and the ambulance to arrive at the scene,” he said.
