Westbury community shut down roads in protest at gang crime

After a man was taken in for questioning and put under police guard in hospital after a mother and daughter were shot in Tamboekie Court in Westbury, Johannesburg, on Thursday, the community launched a protest on Friday.

The pair had been on their way home from Coronationville when they were caught in the crossfire of a gang shooting. The 45-year-old woman died on the scene and her child was rushed to hospital.

Angry community members, many of them women, took to various roads to block the thoroughfares through Westbury. They told media they were sick and tired of crime in the area.

Law enforcement was on the scene, but it was unclear how long the protest would last.

Police have detained a man suspected to be involved in the shooting. He was injured in the gun battle and is under police guard in hospital.

Westside Eldos reports SAPS provincial spokesperson Colonel Lungelo Dlamini saying: “The allegations are that the man in hospital was one of the people who were shooting but we haven’t found a firearm. We have detained him for questioning.”

Dlamini was hopeful the man would give police information on the men involved in the shooting. He added that police did not know the motive of the shooting.

There were messages circulating that a three-year-old girl was also shot dead, but the Colonel confirmed this was not true.

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