Update: “Move and I’ll shoot you dead,” gunman allegedly said.
Man emptied magazine out of shock.
One of the men who was involved in shooting incident yesterday afternoon (31 July), Quinton Maartens, 24, related his version of the events to the Record.
At about 4pm Maartens and a 23-year-old friend walked from the house of a friend they were visiting on Piet Meyer Street to buy airtime at Pick n Pay. According to Maartens another young man walked past them and verbally started provoking them. An argument ensued between his friend and the stranger and it quickly turned into threats of violence. When they reached Trezona Avenue they saw the other man busy on his phone. “I told my friend to just leave it,” said Maartens. “But the next moment a Golf pulled up with, as far as I could see, two guys inside. The guy on the driver side tried to get out but I pushed back the door. Then I saw the firearm in his hand,” explained Maartens. “I shouted at my friend to run for help. The man started kicking and hitting me and pushed me against the wall. He shoved the gun in my face and said, ‘Move and I’ll shoot you dead’. He then told me he was a policeman,” said Maartens.
Read the initial article here: Different versions of shooting in Witpoortjie surface
By that time residents came running to see what was happening. According to Maartens he grabbed the pistol from the man and a few shots accidentally went off. The gunman and his accomplice fled while Maartens emptied the magazine by firing the pistol. Maartens also said he jumped on the Golf “out of shock”. Another vehicle picked up the two fleeing men lower down the street and sped off.
Maartens said the detective who took his statement told him that hollow-point bullets, of which possession is illegal, were fired from the pistol.
He denied rumours that he and his friend were drinking prior to the incident.
The Record is awaiting Krugersdorp Police’s comment.
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