Pietermaritzburg man shoots himself with officer’s gun

KZN police spokesperson Lieutenant Joey Jeevan told The Citizen a law enforcement officer in the Building Control (Planning) Department allegedly grabbed a traffic officer’s gun and shot himself at about 8am, Public Eye Maritzburg reported.

The man was rushed to hospital in a serious condition, where he subsequently died.

“The traffic officer and [the deceased] were friends. They started fighting over the gun because this guy pulled the gun from him to shoot himself. Eventually after the scuffle, this guy shot himself in the head,” said a municipal worker whose office is on the same floor where the shooting occurred.

Another eyewitness said: “I have just spoken to police, and I am going home now. I am so traumatised.”

Jeevan added no foul play was suspected, and police were investigating the matter.

Provincial police spokesperson Major Thulani Zwane said an inquest docket is being investigated by Pietermaritzburg police.

“Circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated,” he said.

In a separate incident, a man shot and killed himself in an apparent suicide in his Ramsgate home in KwaZulu-Natal.

The 30-year-old man, identified as Johan Roets, shot himself in the mouth and was taken to Port Shepstone Regional Hospital, where he later died.

Police spokesperson Captain Gerald Mfeka said when Margate police arrived at the home on Strachan Road, Roets had already been taken to hospital.

The firearm used in the shooting has been taken for ballistics testing, police said.

– Caxton News Service