‘Wanted’ man killed by suspected bogus police officers

Mountain Rise police spokesperson Warrant Officer Joshua Maistry said four men allegedly shouted they were police officers and demanded to be let into the house on Sunday, Public Eye Maritzburg reported.

The occupants of the house were afraid to let the unknown men into the house. Instead, they attempted to hide in the ceiling of the house. The suspects forcefully gained entry and fired shots at the victims, injuring Qinisani Zondi, 22, and killing Mdu Mathonsi, who was shot multiple times, said Maistry.

Mathonsi, 33, was left lying in a pool of blood in the ceiling.

A distraught family member at the scene, Londiwe Ndlovu, said she was not certain about what led to the killing but was positive the men wanted Mathonsi dead.

“Mathonsi had just arrived in the area from Greytown for about two weeks. He had not been involved in any conflict as far as I am aware, but I’m certain that those men wanted him dead because he tried escaping from them and no valuable items were stolen,” she said.

Another family member Sthe Ngubane, described the murder scene as horrific.

“There’s blood everywhere, even pouring from the ceiling where he was killed. There was no chance that he could have survived. These men were here to finish him. We had to remove all the furniture in the house to try and clean all the blood stains in the house,” said Ngubane.

“The bullets were fired in and out of the house for more than 30 minutes. We were not even sure whether to call the police because we heard the men saying they were police raiding the house and that they had warrants. We heard the screams and voices pleading for help from inside the house, but there was nothing we could do – we were terrified and were trying to protect ourselves and our children by lying flat on the floor,” one neighbour said.

Maistry said the men who claimed to be police were not attired in police uniform at the time of the attack and no police had been out in the area at that time.

Maistry urged witnesses with information that can lead to arrests to contact Detective Warrant Officer Mbongeni Dladla on 078 776 4973.

– Caxton News Service