A POLICE official attached to the local criminal record centre in Groblersdal is recovering in a Middelburg hospital after he was shot by a suspect in an attempt to apprehend the suspect last Wednesday.
The shooting occurred after three men were involved in a shootout with security guards outside Marble Hall in the Sekhukhune district.
Provincial police spokesperson, Col Ronél Otto, said at approximately 15:30 last Wednesday, employees of a cigarette company were travelling on the road between Marble Hall and Groblersdal when a vehicle carrying five men cornered them at a stop sign. Shots were fired at the delivery vehicle and security company employees, who were escorting the delivery vehicle, returned fire.
“A police constable from the local criminal record centre in Groblersdal who passed in his vehicle saw what was happening and followed one suspect who was fleeing into the nearby bushes. The suspect shot the police official in the stomach and he was transported to hospital in a serious condition,” Otto said
She added that the security guards fired more shots and the suspect was hit and died on the scene. Another suspect was also wounded and taken to hospital.
She said the other three suspects managed to flee with the delivery vehicle and their own Ford Ranger. The delivery vehicle was later found abandoned not far from the scene.
It was not yet clear what was taken from the vehicle, Otto said. The employees of the delivery vehicle were not injured during the event.
No further arrests were made and the hunt for the remaining suspects continued, she added.
Anyone with information can contact their nearest police station.
