Shoot-out at Lenasia mall

Two security guards were wounded when robbers opened fire on them during a cash-in-transit heist at the Trade Route Mall, in Lenasia, this morning.

Police Captain Mbulane Netshivhodza said 8 robbers attacked the guards while they were filling an FNB ATM at the shopping centre at about 10am. They opened fire on the guards, hitting both of them in the head before taking a bag of money and a 9mm pistol from one of the guards, he said. They made their getaway, in the direction of a nearby informal settlement, in a white Nissan double-cab bakkie.

Netcare 911 spokesman Nick Dollman said one of the guards was taken to the local Lenmed Hospital by ambulance. A helicopter would be used to take the other guard to the Milpark Hospital. Dollman said this guard had sustained a life-threatening wound to the front of his head and was on life support. ER24 said when paramedics arrived on the scene, they found a security guard near an escalator in the mall after he was seriously wounded in the head.

"It is understood from bystanders that the man was shot near the escalators and he dragged himself to the top before collapsing. Paramedics had to initiate advanced life support in order to save his life. "Another security guard was also wounded, but was removed prior to paramedics’ arrival on the scene. It is understood that he is also in a serious condition," the ER24 statement said. Paramedics had to call in the Air Ambulance and he was airlifted to a hospital in Johannesburg for further specialist treatment. The police along with the local fire department and other private emergency services attended the scene.

REWARD OFFERED

SBV Security Services has offered a R250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators. Anyone with information can contact Kobus Swart from SBV on 083-408-7036.

8 OTHER ATTACKS ON MALLS

Police have vowed to fight the brazen attacks on shopping centres and malls in a bid to make them safer for the public. Safety and Security Minister Nathi Mthethwa’s spokesperson, Hangwani Mulaudzi, said criminals cannot “operate willy-nilly and endanger the security of the public”. “The police will have to react decisively. The minister has expressed his concern about the spate of shopping centre attacks and wants drastic action taken,” he said yesterday. Mulaudzi said 8 attacks in the past week had angered the minister.

In one attack six men in biker gear and helmets robbed Browns Jewellery in Fourways, Johannesburg, on Sunday. The brazen shopping centre attacks started last Monday at the Killarney Mall in Johannesburg, where a Coin Security guard was robbed of cash boxes. Other malls that have fallen victim to the attacks are Centurion, Midrand, Gallo Manor, Alberton and Pretoria North. Two people have died in the attacks, while six others have been wounded and 10 suspects are behind bars.

Mulaudzi said the police, in partnership with business, had managed to reduce cash-in-transit attacks and ATM bombings, so criminals are now targeting malls and shopping centres. “We will have to deal harshly with these attacks. They must come to an end,” he said.

Source: The Sowetan