‘Tensions trigger holiday murders,’ experts say after Christmas massacre

The killing of seven family members in a Christmas Day shooting in Limpopo is an “individualised mass murder”, experts say.

Professor Jaco Barkhuizen, head of the department of criminal justice at the University of Limpopo, said mass murder was the killing of two or more people at a specific location in a short period.

“The subcategory is called familicide.

“Familicide is when a killer takes out a group of his family members,” he added.

The killings took place in the Jimmy Jones settlement when the suspect, who was employed as a nurse, shot and killed his two brothers and pregnant wife and four children, using his licensed gun.

Polokwane police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said Azwidohwi Enoch Ndou handed himself over to the police and made a brief appearance in court. The case was postponed to 5 January.

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Barkhuizen said such incidents usually involved a father killing a mother and children, or a brother killing the whole family. He said it depended on motivating factors and the stressors that lead to the motivating factors.

“The festive season was already a mass stress factor.

“If there was an underlying feud or tension with the holiday season setting in, it just gets worse,” he said.

Barkhuizen said killers often then try to commit “suicide by cop”, wanting the police to shoot them – or they commit suicide.

A psychologist practising at Netcare Akeso Milnerton, Zain Julies, said many find it difficult to regulate their emotions in distressing situations, such as family tensions, financial pressures, dealing with loss or worry about the future.

“We may find ourselves reaching for the old familiar ‘crutches’ such as alcohol, food, over-the-counter medication, reliance on social media and technology, or unhealthy relationships with certain people, when facing uncomfortable situations,” she said.

marizkac@citizen.co.za