Walk in the park turns fatal

HENNIE Warricker (39) was shot dead during a hijacking in Farningham Ridge in Pinetown on Wednesday, 25 November.

Warricker and his wife, Taryn, were walking their dogs, Abby and Mia, in a park next to Seaforth Road when they were approached by two suspects, who demanded car keys from the victim.

“He wouldn’t do anything to jeopardise our lives,” she said.

Taryn said when they were walking back to the car they saw two men, who looked suspicious, “One of them had a gun and he said to my husband ‘Give me your keys’, Hennie didn’t hesitate and handed him the keys,” she said.

She said this was a park she always visited, even as a child, “I wouldn’t think that anything could happen to us, there are always children playing in the park unsupervised as it is a safe place,” she said.

With tears in her eyes, Taryn gave details of how her husband was killed. “After handing over the keys, the gunman pushed my husband on the floor, they started wrestling, then I heard one gunshot, I heard my husband scream, ‘Hey!,” she explained.

Taryn said the second shot followed soon after that. Warricker was shot in his chest and leg.

She said the man on her side somehow had the keys and started the car and the gunman jumped in the passenger’s side.

As her husband lay on the floor she went up to him and said, ‘Please don’t leave me now,’ by then he was bleeding through his mouth and died in her arms.

“The suspects drove away in the victim’s Hyundai i20 vehicle. The victim was certified dead at the scene,” said Lt Bongumusa Manqele, Pinetown SAPS communications officer.

Manqele said the park is not a crime hotspot as no cases of murder and hijacking have been reported recently. They are investigating cases of hijacking and murder and no arrests have been made.

According to Taryn, her husband had the softest heart and was always willing to help anybody who needed help and loved his ‘babies’ (Abby and Mia) very much.

They had been married for 14 years and the victim would have celebrated his birthday on 20 December.

Taryn said she has a great support structure and thanked her family and their community watch.