Through boomed gates and security spikes, no barriers are too difficult for criminals to overcome.
A small gang of armed suspects fired shots inside Clearwater Mall as they made their escape from a freshly executed robbery on Friday, 11 June.
Shortly after 5pm, the suspects held the store manager and his assistant at gunpoint, before fleeing with jewellery and an undisclosed amount of cash.
Read initial article here: Suspects flee Clearwater Mall after jewellery store heist
Eye witness reports claim that there were four suspects, with two men carrying out the robbery inside the store while another two females served as scouts on either side of the store located at the extremity of the mall’s corridors.
The suspects ran towards the entrance facing Christiaan de Wet Road before making a u-turn when encountering private security reaction officers.
Firing shots at random, the suspects exited the mall, commandeering a private security 4×4 which was later recovered in Maraisburg.
“It is reported that they used three other getaway cars. Police seized a silver BMW X5 that was found at the mall suspected to have been used by the suspects,” confirmed provincial spokesperson, Captain Mavela Masondo.
Police confirmed that there were no injuries reported and that no arrests have been made yet.
The mall has yet to respond to a request for comment but police are appealing to anyone who might have information that could lead to the apprehension of the thieves to please call 086 001 0111 as soon as possible.
Clearwater Mall Marketing Manager, Jess Denner clarifies:
“The safety of our shoppers, store staff and mall staff is always our first priority and thus we have protocols in place to avoid a shootout in the mall at all costs. This is a very dangerous situation that needs to be approached in such a way so as not to provoke a shootout. We are grateful to our security staff who place their lives on the line in these types of incidents, and believe the best possible outcome was achieved under the circumstances. We would like to say thank you to EC Security and Fidelity ADT that responded to the incident, and further pursued the suspects once they were off site.”
