People in Arras Street ran for cover blindly after a 46-year old man started shooting randomly.
The usually busy street turned into chaos within seconds on June 22 at 13:00 when the man after a quarrel with a women, took out his firearm and fired shots.
After the incident the whole story unfolded.
The shooting started after the man confronted the woman about R40 he gave her last week. He asked her to buy him cigarettes.
A fight then started between the woman and the man, where the woman’s boyfriend decided to intervene and talk on behalf of his partner.
The boyfriend then proceeded by hitting the man with a beer bottle on the head which got him furious and that’s when he took out his licensed fire arm and started shooting randomly at the boyfriend.
A 24-year old bystander Aron Silala was shot in his left arm during the random shooting. Minutes later after the community saw the wounded man, the angry bystanders confronted the shooter and he ran away. He ran towards a traffic vehicle where he looked for refuge and jumped into the car parked down the road.
The angry mob demanded for the female traffic officer to release the shooter which became a pull-push situation until they forcefully removed him from the car. Community members managed to take away his firearm and severely assaulted him with bricks and other object. He was rescued by police after they were summoned to the scene.
Both the shooter and the man who was shot in the arm were taken to Witbank hospital for medical treatment.
The shooter later the same evening succumbed to his injuries and died the same evening.
“We urge the community to work with the police to curb crime but not exacerbate it. As the police in Mpumalanga we call upon the community to refrain from such acts for they have no gain but can be defined as criminal, in extreme, to the loss of an innocent life,” said Lt Gen Mark Magadlela, provincial commissioner.
The shooter was identified as July Molala.
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