A MAN is suspected to have drowned in the uMgeni River following a shootout with a Blue Security officer on Sunday. The shootout occurred just after 2.40pm. The incident occurred on a business premises on Aloefield Crescent in Springfield Park.
Blue Security operations director Brian Jackson said a police search and rescue team had attended the scene to search for a missing suspect who is believed to have drowned while attempting to evade arrest.
“Five well-dressed suspects, two of them armed with firearms and one armed with a knife entered a business premises in Springfield Park and started demanding cash from customers,” Jackson said. “A scuffle broke out and a shot went off injuring an innocent bystander in his leg,” he said.
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An armed reaction officer then responded to the scene.
“When he arrived at the scene he noticed five men leaving the premises and he gave chase for about 40 metres in his vehicle until the suspects starting firing shots at him. He got out of his vehicle and returned fire. The suspects split up and fled in different directions and our officer continued to pursue them,” Jackson said.
Jackson said various security companies and the police responded swiftly to the scene of the crime.
“The police arrested one of the suspects two kilometres away who was found hiding in the reeds along the river near Intersite Avenue. A second suspect is believed to have drowned after he was seen with another suspect attempting to swim across the river to evade arrest. Three of the suspects got away with an undisclosed sum of cash. A firearm was recovered at the scene,” Jackson said.
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Jackson said the SAPS search and rescue team were on the scene for several hours yesterday looking for the suspect who is believed to have drowned.
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