Man shot and killed in Pretoria restaurant

Brooklyn police spokesperson, Captain Colette Weilbach, said two men were sitting at a table inside the Coco Bistro restaurant in Castle Walk Centre when an unknown armed man approached them at about 7.30pm on Tuesday, Rekord East reported.

“The man fired a shot at one of the men at the table and immediately fled the scene,” Weilbach said.

She added the victim died in the restaurant. An eyewitness, Lisa Buys, said she and a friend were having coffee at the restaurant when she suddenly heard an extremely loud noise.

“The loud noise was followed by gunshots. Everyone in the restaurant fell to the floor. My friend and I jumped up from our table and ran to the kitchen for safety,” she said.

Police were then called to the restaurant. Weilbach said police were still trying to identify the man as well as the possible motive behind the attack. No arrests have been made.

In another incident, an Algerian man was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for shooting his countryman at a restaurant at Menlyn Mall in Pretoria back in 2012. Fehrat Benbelkacem allegedly walked into the Parrots restaurant, pulled a firearm out of a white plastic bag and shot businessman Makhlouf Osmani in the back and back of his head at point-blank range before casually leaving the restaurant.

It was heard in court that Benbelkacem had invested his life savings of R300 000 to buy a fast-food outlet from Osmani, but the business collapsed when the rent was massively increased.

– Caxton News Service