A family from Kilnerpark, Pretoria, was held hostage for more than two hours during a violent armed robbery that ended in gunfire. A man was shot while trying to stop the fleeing suspects.

According to Pretoria Rekord, the injured man’s wife, who asked that her name be withheld for safety reasons, said the incident occurred on Monday evening shortly after 20:00.

Four people, three men and a young woman, were inside the main house watching TV when three armed suspects entered the home.

Family tied up during ordeal

The victims were held at gunpoint, tied up with cable ties and ordered to keep their heads down while the robbers searched the house.

The robbers spent more than two hours moving through the property, collecting valuables they intended to steal, including cash, cellphones, groceries, toiletries, clothing and other valuables.

“The flat-screen TV was removed from the wall, but they never managed to take it,” the wife said.

Bedrooms were ransacked as the robbers searched for firearms, cash and valuables, while victims were also forced to open their banking applications so the suspects could gain access to banking details and passwords.

The young woman later discovered her bank account had been emptied before she could block her cards and banking app.

Resident shot as suspects flee

The ordeal escalated shortly after 22:00 when the resident’s husband arrived home at the adjoining flatlet connected to the main house.

“The son noticed the motion sensor light switch on outside and shouted my husband’s name for help,” the wife explained.

Caught off guard, the suspects fled through the yard carrying only the stolen cash and cellphones.

The resident said her husband attempted to stop the suspects as they ran past him.

“Two of the suspects stumbled into each other and dropped one of the cellphones. As they got back up, they turned around and fired shots. One of the suspects shot my husband in the leg before they escaped into nearby bushes,” she said.

Emergency services responded to the scene, and the injured man was transported to hospital for treatment.

Local police spokesperson Captain Johan van Dyk previously confirmed the incident to the newspaper.

Crime concerns grow in suburb

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that another resident in the area was fatally shot less than three weeks earlier, raising growing concerns among residents about violent crime in the suburb.

The two incidents occurred within walking distance of each other near Freeland Avenue and Patricia Street in Kilnerpark, close to the Hartbeesspruit and nearby open veld areas that residents say have become overgrown and dangerous.

Resident Liza Barnard confirmed that another neighbour, Andries du Plooy, was shot in the area on the night of April 30 and later died at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital on May 8.

Barnard said Du Plooy was only discovered the following morning after she heard someone calling for help from a nearby property.

Residents say broken street lights and overgrown vegetation near open spaces and the nearby spruit are making it easier for criminals to hide in the area.

“There are hardly any streetlights working in our area, making it easy for perpetrators to hide in plain sight,” Barnard said.

Police investigations into both incidents are ongoing.

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