One robber in hospital, two dead
SAPS joint intelligence driven operation member nab house robber who allegedly could be airport robbers.
One male ”airport robber” is in hospital after he was wounded during a shootout with the police during which two of his alleged accomplices died.
The incident happened in Gezina at about 17:15 on 17 and 18 Avenue near Haaroff Street.
“In a joint intelligence driven operation comprising of members from National Crime Intelligence, the National Investigation Unit (NINU), Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigation (Hawks), Gauteng K9 and Tracker team responded to an armed robbery in Pretoria Moot area involving a blue BMW,” said National police spokesperson, Vish Naidoo.
He said during the operation, the team had split up when one of the members a BMW fitting the description of the robbers’ vehicle outside a 43-year-old victim’s house where a robbery was already in progress.
“The entire team was summoned and when they tried to engage the suspects, the shootout ensued. Two male suspects were killed and the third was wounded and removed to hospital. Police recovered a .38 special revolver and a pistol which was being used by the robbers,” he said.
Naidoo mentioned that the BMW which was used by the robbers was obtained by the gang during an armed robbery earlier this month in the Boschkop area.
No police officer was injured during the operation.
Naidoo said the police would profile the suspects and that the recovered weapons would also be sent for ballistic testing. The testing would be done to determine if the weapons had been involved in other crimes.
“It was later established that the female victim, who is the occupant of the house in Haaroff Street, had picked up her two Angolan visitors from O R Tambo Airport and returned home with them. As she drove into the driveway the men confronted them and demanded jewellery and their bags,” said Naidoo.
He said incidents of this nature where victims were being followed from the airport and robbed at the respective destination has started to become a growing challenge for the police.
“The incident tonight is indicative of the tireless work that our police officers have been doing to curb this problem. We are hopeful that other such potential robbers would be mindful of both our intelligence capacity and reaction team and refrain from criminality,” concluded Naidoo.
Also read:
Three alleged so-called airport robbers shot dead
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