Specialists convinced deadly Groblersdal shooting perpetrated by cross-border bank robber gang
A customer of Standard Bank in Groblersdal was shot and killed during an armed robbery this week.
A forensic team of specialists investigating bank robberies believe the robbers behind the deadly shooting at Groblersdal Standard Bank, could be the same gang of robbers that pulled off a similar brazen robbery at the Middelburg Mall Absa Bank on October 9.
In both incidents, shots were fired at the feet of the victims to force them to relinquish their cash.
In Absa’s case, a local businessman entering the bank to deposit money had a bag of cash snatched after being wounded by a bullet in his foot.
In the Standard Bank incident this week, the victim died after a second bullet, fired towards his arm, entered his chest, hit his heart and damaged a lung.
Gunmar Security in Groblersdal responded to Monday’s scene behind the Standard Bank branch situated on the corner of Hereford Street and Bank Street.
The bank has temporarily moved its office and teller services to a large shipping container behind the branch, due to renovations.
The area is not secure, with clients queuing outside the container daily, awaiting service.
In the Groblersdal robbery and murder, the victim withdrew money from within the shipping container with the robbers posing as fellow bank clients, as was the case in Middelburg.
A forensic specialist said they’ve tied the particular gang to more than 20 bank robberies, with the modus operandi recently switching from robbing clients outside targeted branches, to robbing them inside.
The source said banks all have a stern policy of offering robbers free movement, “We prefer an in-and-out situation for obvious safety reasons.”
The source also says that banks have abandoned metal detectors “because anything and everything sets them off”.
According to the source, banks can also no longer offer lockboxes for weapons storage due to logistical reasons, including branches having become much smaller in order to serve a much broader distribution area.
Another telltale sign that it was the same gang is the involvement of just two robbers the Groblersdal Police know about at present.
Usually, they move in threes, with one lookout and two robbers.
The gang also always exclusively stage their attacks on Mondays, the source says.
They have been positively linked to robberies in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
According to the source, two of the robbers have been identified, with the identity of the third still under investigation.
The problem is that the identifications would not stand in court due to things like “watches, caps, shoes and clothes posted on their social media accounts, matching merchandise in CCTV footage from robberies”.
The source says they’re always careful to cover their faces to sidestep available technology.
The identity of the deceased in Monday’s bloody robbery has not been released.
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