According to police, they were on routine patrol at the corner of Edith Cavell and Van Der Merwe streets, when the police spotted a suspect who was carrying a large shopping bag and acted suspiciously when he saw them.
Hillbrow police spokesperson Constable Mduduzi Zondo said the officers approached the suspect and asked to search him. Zondo said, “When police searched him they found nothing and asked to search the bag and they found a shotgun with five rounds of ammunition.” The 28-year-old suspect was arrested for being in possession of an unlicensed firearm and taken to Hillbrow police station.
In the other incident, police on routine patrol at the intersection of Hadfield Road and Tudhope Avenue noticed a man wearing a black jacket acting suspiciously. Zondo said, “The man panicked when he saw the police and the police decided to stop and search him. He was found with a .38 special revolver hidden in his pants in the front. “The gun was loaded and the serial number was filed off.” The 24-year-old suspect from Soweto was arrested.
Both suspects were expected to appear at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.
Zondo said police arrested about five to six people with unlicensed firearms every month in Hillbrow and most of them say they purchased the guns from residents of hostels in Soweto. He said the suspects were mostly unemployed.
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