Gauteng Police confirmed that a jewellery store in Cradlestone Mall was robbed on Sunday, 16 August.
Read initial article here:
https://www.citizen.co.za/krugersdorp-news/440134/one-shot-and-airlifted-after-alleged-armed-robbery-at-mall/
Three people were injured in the process – two of them suspects and the other a security guard.
In a statement issued by Brigadier Mathapelo Peters, Gauteng Provincial Police spokesperson, preliminary investigations suggest that armed robbers came into the jewellery shop and after pushing the employees to the back of the store, they took jewellery of which the value is still undetermined.
“Shots were fired as the suspects left the store. More shots were fired outside the mall,” she said.
Three off-duty police officers who were at the mall at the time of the robbery saw what was happening and jumped into action.
“At least two of the suspects were injured during an exchange of fire between the off-duty police officers and the suspects, but their accomplices allegedly managed to carry them out of the mall into their two getaway vehicles – a white Nissan NP200 and a black BMW.”
Peters added that a security guard who was stationed outside the mall was shot and had to be airlifted to hospital.
“At this stage, police are searching for at least seven suspects, one of them a woman. There is a possibility that more people were involved.”
Gauteng Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela, consequently ordered that the Serious and Violent Crimes Unit, responsible for investigating organised crime, be mobilised.
Mawela commended the off-duty officers for selflessly placing themselves in harm’s way and attempting to apprehend the suspects, thereby saving the lives of others in the mall.
The detectives investigating this and other recent robberies at jewellery stores, together with Crime Intelligence, must leave no stone unturned until the suspects are found.
“The suspects must be brought to book and suffer the same fate as the 2014 Telkom store robbers who were found guilty last week, six years after committing the crime,” Mawela said.
The police are asking anyone with information that could lead to these criminals being arrested to contact their nearest police station or call the Crime Stop number on 08600 10111.
