MOKOPANE – A 52-year-old reaction officer from Suricat will never forget Sunday night when he was on duty and at least four people opened fire on his vehicle at the Engen filling station on the corner of Dudu Madisha and Nelson Mandela Drive.

Obed Rafapha was the first response vehicle to arrive at the scene of an armed robbery at the Engen garage, where four of six men used explosives to open the safe.

“I started with my night shift at 23:00 and was doing my routine rounds in Akasia, when I was called by the office, at around 23:30, to go and attend to an emergency at the Engen garage as their panic button was activated.

“My face was covered in blood due to the windows of the car imploding at the impact of the bullets”

“As I approached the Engen garage from Dudu Madisha Street to turn into the garage, I was stunned by the sound of bullets hitting against the response car I was driving. I bent down to try and hide from bullets that were flying left, right and centr into my car.

“My face was covered in blood due to the windows of the car imploding at the impact of the bullets.

But I remained calm and drove off, calling on the radio for assistance, and that is when the police and the ambulances arrived on the scene,” Rafapha described his ordeal to Bosveld on Tuesday.

Rafapha was rushed to Voortrekker Hospital where he was treated for cuts and abrsasions.

“We counted 22 bullet holes in the vehicle and we are grateful he survived,” another Suricat employee said.