Police colonel killed in shooting near Greytown
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on IOL
A South African police colonel was killed on Thursday afternoon in a shootout with armed robbery suspects on the R33 road near Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal. The suspects, about ten in number, had attacked a business in Greytown, injuring the owner; two were shot dead and a third arrested, according to South African police.
The commander of the Greytown police station, in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, was killed on Thursday during an exchange of fire with suspects wanted after a violent robbery. A police sergeant was shot in the arm and hospitalised, according to the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Police officers had been called while the robbery was under way at a business in Greytown, where the owner was injured and employees assaulted. At least ten suspects fled in a Toyota Quantum before being intercepted on the R33 road towards Msinga, according to SAPS.
Two suspects were killed by police gunfire and a third, wounded by gunfire, was arrested and taken to hospital under heavy escort. Investigators recovered three weapons, including two rifles and a handgun, while the other suspects fled on foot towards the nearby mountains, according to SAPS.
The acting provincial commissioner of KwaZulu-Natal, Major General Phumelele Makoba, announced the mobilisation of all available resources to find the fugitives. He offered his condolences to the family of the policewoman who was killed and to her colleagues.
