An ex-boyfriend’s gun-wielding rampage on Monday morning left two people dead, including himself. A couple were inside a house in Phase 3 Roosboom when the woman’s ex-boyfriend arrived. He attempted to force his way into the house, but the couple prevented him from gaining entry by pushing themselves up against the door.
Enraged, he pulled out a gun and fired several shots through the door. The woman sustained a gunshot wound to the head and her boyfriend was shot in the chest and arm. The woman died as a result of her injuries.
The ex-boyfriend then fled on foot, firing in the direction of neighbours when they tried to stop him. He fled to a house close to the graveyard and Buhlebezwe School. Police officers from the Ladysmith Community Service Centre (CSC) and Ladysmith K-9 Unit soon arrived at the house in question. The suspect then fled on foot across a donga and into nearby veld, and was subsequently cornered by chasing police. As police closed in on him, he turned the gun on himself… and a single gunshot rang out. The man was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
Police have opened cases of murder, as well as an inquest. An unlicensed firearm, believed to be the murder weapon, was found in the suspect’s possession. The deceased have not yet been officially identified.