An off-duty Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) officer was shot and killed while attempting to help a colleague during a domestic dispute in Soweto.

The incident happened at around 03:30 yesterday, June 28, in Glenridge Extension 16, according to a JMPD statement, reports the Soweto Urban.

JMPD spokesperson Superintendent Xolani Fihla said a JMPD officer and her girlfriend had an altercation where after the officer contacted her colleague and friend, who was off duty at the time, to assist in transporting her girlfriend away from the scene.

When the off-duty officer arrived, the girlfriend got into her vehicle and they started driving away.

Fihla said preliminary reports indicate that the JMPD officer who was involved in the domestic dispute with her girlfriend, fired seven shots from her service pistol in the direction of the vehicle as it was driving away.

The off-duty officer was fatally wounded and both the front and back windows of the vehicle were damaged during the shooting.

The suspect was taken into custody shortly after the incident.

Fihla said the identity of the suspect cannot be made public before she appears in court.

“Out of respect for the family and pending formal notifications, the identity of the deceased officer is also being withheld at this time,” said Fihla.

The scene was processed by SAPS members. A case of murder has been officially registered at the Protea SAPS station.

Because this matter involves a law enforcement officer discharging a service firearm, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate has taken over the primary investigation.

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