Westbury residents want justice to take place after three-year old Luke Tibbetts was hit by a stray bullet on 2 August.
The toddler was sitting on his mother’s lap in the backseat of a car when the bullet hit him.
“There was a back-and-forth shooting between two groups of people on the corner of Statler and Croesus streets in Westbury,” Warrant Officer TJ de Bruyn, spokesperson for Sophiatown Police Station said.
“The family was driving by and one of the stray bullets hit the car and the toddler in it.”
After the incident, the shocked family rushed the three-year old to nearby Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital. Luke is still in the Netcare Garden City Hospital on life support machines, suffering from brain damage.
His parents reportedly have to make the choice to switch off the life support, but haven’t been able to take that step yet, Garden City general manager Sandile Mbele said.
“Our child Luke was hit,” the Tibbetts next-door neighbour Patricia Viljoen said outside the Sophiatown Magistrates’ Court on 5 August.
“We’re not judging him (the accused), but we just want justice to take place. Luke can’t speak for himself, so we want the evidence to speak for him. We will fight for him.”
Keenan Mokwena (26), who was shot in the arm during the shooting, alleged that he was the intended target of the shooting. He said that he would carry the flag of justice for baby Tibbets.“I will be in court every day, ensuring that the man will stay behind bars. Justice will be done,” he said.
The accused appeared in court on two charges of attempted murder. Clad in blue and beige he seemed remarkably composed as he stood before Magistrate Koos Pretorius in a courtroom packed with community members and the media. Policemen lined the courtroom walls.
Magistrate Pretorius warned that their was little chance of the accused receiving bail.“Because of the age of the victim and because of previous crimes committed, it’s unlikely you will receive a light sentence either,” he said. The accused has three alleged murder trials pending in the Johannesburg High Court, not including these two new charges for attempted murder.
Outside the courtroom Gauteng MEC for Community Safety, Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane appealed to Westbury community members, who had witnessed the crime, to come forward. Members of Voice of the People South Africa (VPSA) picketed outside the courtroom with bright orange posters in protest of the senseless crime.
Premier David Makhura was at the neighbouring Sophiatown Police Station to advise community members not to take the matter in their own hands.
Neighbour Viljoen and fellow neighbour Sylvester Fredericks said they had been with the Tibbetts family every day since the shooting. “The Tibbetts are pretending to be strong, keeping a brave face, but their world has been shattered to pieces,” Fredericks said.
The neighbours have been praying with the family every day.
“We don’t know why they shot at each other,” Viljoen said.
“In this community (Westbury) people just shoot for pleasure sometimes. Where does the bullet go? Little Luke is just a baby, and now he’s fighting for his life. He knows nothing of the world. Pray for our Luke, everybody.”
The case has been postponed to 12 August.
