MBOMBELA – A Mozambican woman was lucky to escape with only minor injuries when an unknown group of men opened fire with a pistol and an assault rifle on the vehicle she had been travelling in.
The driver sped into The Grove Shopping Centre when he realised he and his occupants were being followed. This didn’t deter the perpetrators and they followed them into the centre’s parking lot where they fired the shots.
An informed source who was at the scene, told Lowvelder that the driver of a Range Rover had no less than three passengers. They had been travelling in the direction of Riverside Mall in Government Boulevard when he noticed a suspicious-looking vehicle – a BMW X5 – behind him. “He went around a traffic circle once and the BMW stayed on his tail. He did it a second time and again the car didn’t drive on,” the source said. “At one stage, the BMW pulled up next to them and the occupants showed the victims their firearms.
The driver then turned into The Grove, hoping to shake them off, but they followed. The driver of the Range Rover stopped in front of Rochester Furniture and the BMW parked close by. The occupants of the latter proceeded to open fire on the Range Rover.
“It seems as if the shooters remained inside the BMW,” the source said. The rear window had three visible gunshot holes. The rear left window on the passenger’s side was completely shattered. This is where the woman who was wounded had been seated.
Another source at the scene, said that she sustained minor injuries to her arm and hand. Four other vehicles that had been parked close to the Range Rover were also damaged during the shooting.
Employees of Rochester said the entire shooting seemed to have lasted about three seconds. One of them who didn’t want to be named, said it appeared as if the assailants were “shooting to kill”. The employee said, “It looked like the shooters wanted people to die.”
According to one of the sources, the woman had been shopping at The Grove shortly before the incident. She was taken to Mediclinic Nelspruit. At the time of going to print, several police officials had cordoned the scene off and were conducting an investigation.
Provincial police spokesman, Brig Selvy Mohlala urged anyone with information to phone him on 071-353-6955.
More images of the scene
