Pretoria - Two male suspects were killed in a shootout with the police in Pretoria Moot on Sunday night.
A third suspect sustained injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital.
Police believe the gang is part of a syndicate targeting people travelling from O. R. Tambo International Airport.
Incidents of this nature, where victims are followed from the airport and robbed on arrival at their destination, has become a growing challenge for the police.
In this case, the three suspects followed a female victim from the airport to her home in Pretoria, police said.
“The 43-year-old woman, who is the occupant of the house in Haaroff Street, picked up her two Angolan visitors from O. R. Tambo Airport and returned home with them. As she drove into the driveway the men confronted them and demanded jewellery and their bags,” police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said on Monday.
Police received a tip-off and followed up on the information.
According to Naidoo, the suspects were travelling in a stolen vehicle that police recognised. The car had been taken during an armed robbery in the Boschkop area earlier this month.
When the police tried to engage the suspects at the house, a shoot-out ensued. The female victim and the police were not injured in the shootout.
“Investigators are hoping to gather more information from the third suspect once he recovers,” said Naidoo.
He said the incident was indicative of the tireless work that police officers have been doing to curb airport related robberies. “We are hopeful that other such potential robbers would be mindful of both our intelligence capacity and reaction team and refrain from such criminality.” – SAnews.gov.za
