SAPS and EMPD officers were too scared to intervene as about 700 people turned violent.
Capt Johannes Ramphora, Springs police spokesman, says four armed robbers allegedly robbed people and shot six people at 5.30pm in the informal settlement and ran away.
The five injured men and one woman, were treated on the scene by paramedics and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The angry residents followed the robbers and caught two of them in Main Street, Everest, stoned them to death, placed tyres on the bodies and poured petrol over them before setting the bodies alight.
The third robber was trapped inside a shop in First Avenue, Bakerton.
He was dragged out of the shop by a mob who stoned him to death in the parking area opposite the shop.
Ramphora says the rest of the mob followed the fourth robber to Third Avenue, Bakerton and also stoned him to death.
The deceased have allegedly been terrorising the community for too long leading the community to resort to mob justice.
Ramphora says the police remained on the scene until the early hours of Friday morning when the bodies were removed and the scene was cleared.
The names of the deceased are not known.
An attempted murder and murder case was opened at the Springs police station.
“None of the community members are willing to come forward to say who killed these men,” says Ramphora.
The police tried to find the firearms used by the deceased, but these couldn’t be retrieved.
WARNING: The following video contains graphic content.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9D5dXdmo_g&feature=youtu.be
