Child’s lucky escape as bullet tears through car

AN 11-year-old child narrowly escaped serious injury after the car she was travelling in with her mother was hit in a shooting incident involving a traffic official on Main Road, Empangeni.

‘I had just turned into Main Road from Frank Bull Road when a man ran across the street,’ said the child’s mother, who preferred not to be named.

‘The man was fleeing after he had attempted to hijack an elderly woman at knifepoint in the shopping centre parking lot at around 7.30pm.

‘My daughter called out from the back seat, telling me to slow down when she saw the man.

‘Suddenly I heard gunshots and saw a traffic officer wielding a gun near the exit of the parking lot,’ she said.

‘I stopped at the nearby garage when my daughter complained of a burning sensation on her arm.’

The woman took her child to a doctor, who could not identify what had caused the swelling and burns.

Later that evening she discovered a single bullet hole on the left-hand side of her vehicle. The bullet had penetrated the door and back seat before coming to a stop in the boot.

A second consultation with a doctor the next day confirmed the burning sensation could very well have been caused by the passing bullet grazing the child’s arm.

The number of shots fired and the identity of the officer is unconfirmed at this stage.

The suspect was arrested unharmed shortly the after the incident.

The woman went to the police station the next day to report the incident, but claims officers treated her indifferently,

‘They were rude and dismissive. I overheard one of them saying ‘why is she complaining, it’s just a bullet’.’

She eventually managed to open a case of malicious damage to property, which is since being handled separately to the attempted hijacking.

The municipality confirmed the incident, but dismissed the allegation that the child was injured in the incident.

Official comment has been withheld pending an investigation into the matter,