As a parent, this could be your worst nightmare: three men with guns are standing next to your car.
They order you out of the vehicle and you comply, but your child is sleeping in the back. They want to leave, you want your child.
What should you do:
“Do not do anything that will alarm the hijackers. Never initiate any movement yourself. This may give them the impression that you are reaching for a gun or panic button,” said the acting spokesperson for the Edenvale SAPS, Lieutenant Colonel Robbie Roberts.
He added that in most cases, hijackers will be as nervous, if not more so, than their victim.
“Keep your hands clearly visible. Answer any questions truthfully. Try to listen and understand exactly what the hijackers want from you,” said Lt Col Roberts.
He also advised that in any hijacking instance, residents should follow the instructions given.
“If you are told to get out of the car, wait for the hijacker to open the door or wait until instructed to do so. Open the door slowly, with one hand, and keep the other hand visible. Once outside, slowly move away from the car so as not to appear as a threat,” he said.
“If they kidnap you, co-operate with them fully. If you have a baby sleeping on the back seat, which they may not have noticed, tell them. Ask them if they can fetch your child but do not move towards the car without being told to do so.
“Reassure them that the child is not a threat,” said Lt Col Roberts.
Boy killed in hijacking:
On Saturday night, four-year-old Taegrin Morris died when his body was dragged by his family’s moving car after it was hijacked in Reiger Park, Boksburg.
The Boksburg Advertiser reported that the boy was travelling in a car with his mother, father and sister in Reiger Park on Saturday night, when they were hijacked.
The young boy was unable to get free and was left hanging out of the vehicle when the hijackers fled.
It is believed the child was dragged approximately eight kilometres before the hijackers abandoned the vehicle and the lifeless body of the boy.
