SEVEN armed men ambushed two G4S guards at Festival Mall on Saturday afternoon.
The armed robbery took place as the security guards were delivering money to a Capitec ATM at entrance 4 near the taxi rank at about noon.
It appears as if three of them followed the guards inside the mall and four of them remained outside.
According to Capt Ralidzhivha of the Ekurhuleni North Cluster, the G4S van was coming from Boksburg.
“The guards were accosted by three suspects who pointed firearms at them. The guards dropped the box of money and were further instructed to activate the ink inside the box,” Ralidzhivha confirmed.
Festival Mall’s marketing manager, Lee-Anne Leathley, confirmed that two warning shots were fired by the suspects and both G4S security officers were disarmed. The money box exploded in the mall but was promptly removed by the suspects.
The men also robbed the guards of their firearms. They then picked up the cash box, fired three shots and fled the scene, Ralidzhivha said in a statement.
Outside, four vehicles awaited them: a silver Colt bakkie, a white BMW, a red Citi Golf and a black Renault Megane, Leathley said.
All seven robbers then got away.
“The centre management team, security staff and the police force responded immediately to the incident. ER24 were called immediately to counsel the surrounding on-lookers and ensure that everyone involved was given trauma counselling,” Leathley said.
According to Leathley, all four vehicle registration numbers were obtained by the security guards of Festival Mall and handed over to the SAPS, as well as the footage of the incident.
“The centre management of Festival Mall would like to thank the SAPS for their prompt response to the incident.”
Fortunately, no one was injured and no arrests have yet been made.
