Mbombela reaction officer survives shoot-out
An AG Solutions reaction officer from Mbombela survived yet another shoot-out after following up on information on a recent robbery.
It was another close call for a local AG Solutions reaction officer as he came under heavy fire from gunmen last Wednesday evening, August 30, when he followed up on information on a business robbery in Middelburg earlier that day.
The officer, Callen Herbst, as well as two officers from eMalahleni’s Paratus Enterprise, Hendri Appelgryn and Jacobus Nel, arrived at a house in the Tekwane area following information that stolen goods and a vehicle used in a robbery in Middelburg earlier that day, were being kept on the property.
Herbst said shots suddenly rained down around the three of them from two directions. “It was load-shedding, so it was really dark. We heard three different firearms; two rifles and a 9mm. Luckily no one was injured, and not even our vehicles were hit,” he said.
ALSO READ: Deceased in R40 taxi crash identified
The three returned fire and called the Nelspruit Flying Squad for backup. He said the gunmen stopped firing and fled the scene, allowing the team to recover the stolen goods and the vehicle.
A provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Donald Mdhluli, said the Middelburg robbery had occurred at about 15:30, and that 25 cellphones had been stolen in the incident. He said no arrests have been made at this stage.
The Tekwane shoot-out was reminiscent of an ambush that had occurred near Barberton on June 13 last year. Herbst and another AG Solutions officer, Ethiene Lourens, had been trapped in a downpour of bullets after responding to a hijacking.
ALSO READ: Man suspected of killing pregnant woman in Mbombela CBD arrested
Lourens narrowly escaped the shoot-out with his life after he was shot in the knee. The pair had to crawl 2km through bush to escape the gunmen. Lourens was rushed to hospital where he was told the bullet had been centimetres away from hitting a major artery.
Speaking on the most recent incident, Herbst said it was a lesson learnt on how to handle these sorts of situations better, and that he was glad there were no injuries this time around.
AG Solutions’ director, Albert Gryvenstein, who is also the director of Bossies Community Justice, said Herbst and the eMalahleni team assessed and handled the situation well, despite the threat of death. He said he had visited the scene shortly after the shooting and the recovery of the stolen goods.
“I am glad they are all safe and got out with not even a scratch. They did very good work,” he said.
