Reaction officer speaks about this morning’s heist and shooting at Key West
There were about 11 suspects; some of them fired shots at him when he responded to the call.
The reaction officer who was shot at during an early morning robbery at Key West Shopping Centre this morning, 28 September has spoken out about his near-death experience.
Jason van Niekerk, 23, said he was on his way to another call when he heard there was a robbery in progress at the mall.
Read initial article here: [BREAKING] Early morning robbery at Clicks Key West
“At 6.08am this morning, EPR received a panic message from the guards inside Key West over the Community Policing Forum (CPF) radio network,” said Johan Krogh, general manager of EPR Randfontein.
Because Van Niekerk was the closest member of EPR to the scene, he decided to respond. He arrived moments later.
He first went to another entrance, but received information that the robbery was near Entrance 2.
“I drove around the mall and as I turned the corner near the top end of Entrance 2, I saw the suspects loading bags into their getaway vehicle,” Van Niekerk said after the incident. “The suspects looked up and shot at me. There were about five or six shots.”
He said he pulled his firearm, but decided not to fire any rounds.
First video released: [WATCH] Video footage of Clicks heist at Key West
“There were too many civilians around and I couldn’t risk putting them in danger by shooting at the suspects. Everything happened so fast and before I knew it the suspects had gotten into the getaway car and sped off.”
Van Niekerk ducked for cover and called for backup.
He said the suspects fled in three vehicles: a red Audi, a white VW and a silver Ford.
After the incident, the guard was quite shocked and said the police found five rounds of spent ammunition near him.
Second video released: [WATCH] Second video of Clicks Key West robbery released
“There were about three bullet holes in the tar in front of my vehicle. There was another round that hit a lamppost near the car and another one in the garden.”
Van Niekerk and his backup party went into the centre after the suspects fled and assessed the scene inside. They secured the scene and waited for police to arrive.
He considers himself lucky to be alive and, because it’s company policy, will now receive trauma counselling.
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