Cresta shooting: eyewitness account

People were running out of Cresta Centre to their cars, screaming. As he arrived, he heard the roar of the AK47 gunfire.

Linden Neighbourhood Watch’s Fareed Hoosen and his crew were second on the scene at the armed robbery in Cresta Shopping Centre on 13 August.

“There were six suspects, five shooters and one spotter,” Hoosen said.

“They held up the staff at the newly opened Istore, took all the Iphones and Ipads and packed them into bags that they had brought along with them.”

Hoosen said an armed private guard saw the alleged robbers as they exited the store. He opened fire and managed to shoot one suspect.

“As they ran off, he shot again,” he recounted.

“The five armed men made their way out of the Game entrance side, and as they ran outside, the armed security guard gave chase, and shot again.”

At this point the suspects then returned fire.

The panicked Cresta shoppers were running for cover among the ensuing gunshots, Hoosen said.

A second group of suspects armed with an AK47 assault rifle were in the parking lot. They opened fire as well, and shot at a bakkie and at the entrance of the shopping centre.

“Thankfully, they didn’t shoot very well, and no AK rounds hit any person,” Hoosen said.

“However, an innocent bystander, a man, was at his vehicle parked at the entrance area, and he was shot by one of the armed suspects. He was hit in both arms as the bullet came through the car window.”

The man managed to get out of the car during the gunfire, crawled a few metres to the centre’s entrance and collapsed.

He was almost immediately treated by ER24 Emergency Services who were on the scene remarkably quickly, and was then transported to hospital.

Hoosen said one of the armed robbers was definitely injured in the shootout, but the group all managed to get away.

The suspects escaped in three vehicles: a Corsa or Nissan NP200 bakkie, a dark coloured Audi A3 and a white Quantum.