An ongoing dispute between Kempton Park Taxi Association and a splinter group from this body, could have led to the shootings in Kempton Park central business district (CBD) on Wednesday night.
One person was killed while another was taken to hospital.
Both victims are believed to be members of Kempton Park Taxi Association as the vehicles they were found in were the association’s patrol vehicles. Both vehicles were riddled with bullet holes.
Capt Jethro Mtshali, spokesperson for Kempton Park SAPS, said no arrests had been made.
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“At this stage we don’t know what happened but there is allegedly an ongoing dispute between Kempton Park Taxi Association and a splinter group from the association,” said Mtshali.
“It is believed the dispute had been ongoing since 2014 but we can’t confirm whether these incidents are linked to that dispute.”
The two shootings, one on Monument Road and the other on Pretoria Road, rattled community members.
In the first incident on Monument Road near CR Swart Drive the victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
“We received a multiple shooting call at around 6.45pm and found a patient who was critically injured with multiple gunshot wounds. He was given pre-hospital medical treatment on site and was transported to Tembisa Hospital,” said William Ntladi, spokesperson for Ekurhuleni’s Disaster and Emergency Services (DEMS).
Witnesses described the incident as traumatic. A community member, who wished to remain anonymous, told Express they were about 30m from the incident.
“We were driving into McDonald’s when we heard the gunshots. We kept ducking in our vehicle as we couldn’t see where the shots were coming from. We moved when we saw a huge crowd of people running in our direction. We managed to park our vehicle at a place of safety.”
Onlookers were, at first, afraid to approach the vehicle shot at, even after the shooters had left. Police and paramedics arrived and cordoned off the area. Paramedics were escorted to Tembisa Hospital while transporting the victim.
While on scene, Express was alerted about the second shooting at the traffic lights on the corner of Pretoria Road and Park Street, near Midas.
“We got another call where a man, who appears to have been the driver, sustained about ten gunshot wounds,” said Ntladi.
“The patient succumbed to his injuries and was declared dead on the scene.”
Express was approached by a person who was walking from the taxi rank when the incident happened.
“My friend and I were walking up Park Street when we noticed three vehicles closing in on one vehicle. Suddenly, we heard gunshots and we started running further up the road,” said the frantic community member.
“After the gunshots, we went back to the scene as we were worried as our friend had just drove down Park Street with her boyfriend. We were relieved when we called her and she said she and her boyfriend were safe.”
Cases of murder and attempted murder are being investigated, Mtshali said.
Reports of a third shooting near Elgin Road are not true.
