Five armed robbers arrested in Cape Town

Shortly after seven armed men perpetrated a business robbery at a shop in Harare in Khayelitsha, five of them were apprehended and two firearms were seized when vigilant members of the Maitland flying squad were quick to reacted on an alert of the getaway vehicle, Lt-Col Andrè Traut said.

The Toyota Avanza with the suspects inside was spotted and a high-speed pursuit ended in a shoot-out between police and the robbers on the corner of Lansdowne and Thuku roads, he said.

“During this altercation, a police constable sustained a gunshot wound to his hand and was admitted to hospital in a stable condition. One of the suspects was also shot and wounded and is [being] treated under police guard.

“We are hot on one the heels of two of the suspects who managed to evade arrest and our detectives will work around the clock to ensure that they are apprehended. Once charged, the suspects, who are aged between 20 and 31, are due to make a court appearance in Khayelitsha on charges of attempted murder and armed robbery.”

The possibility that the suspects were involved in similar business robberies in the Khayelitsha area would form part of the police investigation, Traut said.