The shooting of two women and a man in front of two young children on 14 May has left the residents of Ikageng Men’s hostel reeling in shock.
The men’s hostel, which has recently become a den of drugs and dagga, was the scene of another murder less than 3 months ago. Ikageng police officers were conducting a routine patrol around the township when a man rushed to stop them. He said he had seen dead bodies at the hostel when he wanted to buy cigarettes at 23:20.
On arrival, the police discovered three bodies lying in pools of blood. The body of one woman was lying face down and the other was in the bedroom, where they found the 2-year-old baby clambering over it. Another 5-year-old child was on the bed. Neither of the two had been harmed. The body of a male was found in the toilet.
The room had been used as a liquor store and it is alleged that the owner, who was a drug dealer, was shot dead in the same room in February.
Two of the deceased were customers while the third was the younger sister of the deceased owner. The Ikageng police spokesperson, W/O Ishmael Mohutsioa said the police have not yet established the motive and cannot say whether or not the two murders are linked.
No arrests had been made at the time of going to print, but Mohutsioa reported that five cartridges had been found at the scene. He said the pre-schoolers had been taken to an undisclosed place of safety.
