Rosettenville shootout: 15 police officers traumatised, Ipid takes over investigation

Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) spokesperson Grace Langa said the 15 police officers involved in the shootout in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, on Monday are traumatised by the incident.

Langa added that Ipid has taken over the investigation, as police were involved in the shootout with cash-in-transit (CIT) robbers. The shootout resulted in eight people being killed.

Langa said there were about 15 police officers involved in the shootout.

“There were about 15 officers from different units that were involved in the shootout with criminals and we could not interview them because most of the officers are still traumatised by what happened,” she said.

Langa added that 10 suspects have been arrested so far. Five were identified as Zimbabwean, one is from Botswana and four are from KwaZulu-Natal.

On Monday night, Police Minister Bheki Cele said that eight suspects had been arrested, while others were on the run. Cele said there were about 25 suspects involved in the shootout.

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The shootout claimed the lives of eight criminals, and left two other gang members in a critical condition- their recent health status is not yet known.

Five Saps members were critically injured and reported to be recovering at Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg.

The Ipid spokesperson added that the suspect from Botswana is a wanted criminal and an alleged mastermind of CIT robberies in South Africa.

Langa said Ipid investigators are still consolidating information from the scene.

“Ipid investigators are still on the scene and investigations are ongoing. We will have detailed confirmations of all the allegations, scene and of what led to the incident when the scene is closed and completed. At this stage we have too much information coming from different people who are attending the scene,” Langa said. 

The shootout on Monday follows a CIT robbery on Sunday in Eden Park, Gauteng, that resulted in an innocent bystander being killed.

The group of armed men started firing at the cash van and managed to flee the scene with at least three bags of cash.

Police launched a manhunt for the suspects.

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