Following the Bluff jewellery store mall shooting on Monday, 22 January, Bluff Towers centre management have vowed to investigate any necessary security upgrades.
Centre manager, Zinhle Madiba said such incidents will not be taken lightly.
This after an armed gang of jewellery thieves exchanged a volley of gunfire with a tenant as they were leaving a Bluff Towers jewellery store.
Shoppers and tenants ran for cover and took refuge in the mall’s stores when the gunfire rang out at about 2pm.
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Brighton Beach SAPS spokesman Capt Louise Le Roux confirmed that at about 2pm, an armed man forced his way into a jewellery store in the mall and was soon followed by another six men. “Firearms and hammers were produced and display cabinets were smashed and jewellery taken,” she added.
A fellow tenant heard the glass cabinets being smashed and went to investigate just as the armed men were exiting the store.
When they fired shots at him, he returned fire. Their hasty retreat was delayed by the gunfire exchange, which also saw them drop some of the stolen jewellery in the mall. The gang made their way to the basement parking lot and failed in their first attempt to hijack a man and his child.
Instead the drama continued when they hijacked and kidnapped a pregnant woman who had parked in the parking lot. While they later abandoned both her and her car in Durban Central, the woman went into labour when police members found her and returned her to the scene of the crime. Paramedics assisted her to hospital.
ICYMI: Pregnant woman hijacked by Bluff jewellery store heist gang goes into labour
Brighton Beach SAPS, Metro K9 Unit and the police dog unit responded to the scene. Despite informers being activated, the search for the armed thieves has proved fruitless thus far.
According to Madiba said, although the perpetrators fired some shots within the basement of the shopping centre, no-one was injured.
READ: Shots fired as Bluff jewellery store robbed
“Unfortunately high levels of crime, especially in retail centres, are a daily reality throughout South Africa.
We are just relieved to know no-one was injured during this unfortunate incident and would like to thank all emergency services that assisted,” she said.
She confirmed that six suspects were seen walking into the centre via entrance two. A seventh criminal approached from the opposite direction. She said a shopping centre security officer at the scene immediately alerted security services and the police. “On leaving the property, the suspects dropped most of the jewellery they had removed from the store. Centre management is working closely with the SAPS. However, no arrests have yet been made.
“Incidents such as these are not something we take lightly. We are working closely with SAPS, Business Against Crime, our security service provider, operations staff and our tenants and are investigating upgrades to the centre’s security should this be necessary,” she said.
