A man from Isipingo Rail, south of Durban, who was shot on Thursday morning while trying to help a neighbour who was being hijacked, has passed away.

The man, who had only been identified as Dwayne (49) at the time of publication, had heard screams coming from his neighbour’s house at around 06:10 and went out to investigate.

Provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Nqobile Gwala, said the neighbour returned from dropping off her husband at work and was parking her vehicle outside her home when two men accosted her and demanded the keys to her Toyota bakkie.

“She screamed for her help and her neighbour ran outside to investigate what was happening. The suspects noticed that that the neighbour was in possession of a firearm and shot him in the head,” said Gwala.

The bullet entered Dwayne’s temple. The hijackers took his firearm and sped off in the woman’s vehicle. PT Alarms spokesperson, Dhevan Govindasamy, said the victim was stabilised at the scene and airlifted to hospital by a helicopter ambulance.

“Unfortunately the victim succumbed to his injuries in hospital,” he said.

Gwala said cases of murder, theft and carjacking were opened at Isipingo Police Station for investigation.