A 14-month-old baby is fighting for his in life in hospital after gunmen pumped bullets into a family’s vehicle in a what is believed to be a gang-related attempted hit.
The driver is believed to be the son of a notorious gangster was also shot and wounded but has been discharged from hospital.
Lansdowne police are probing the shooting incident which took place on Friday night at 11pm in Crawford, and has left residents in the area on high alert as the shooting is believed to be gang-related.
A source told Weekend Argus that the 25-year-old man from Hanover Park was travelling with his family when at least six gunshots were heard.
“Its understood that the man, his wife and child were travelling along Vertrou Road when a car stopped next to them and opened fire.
“At first, people thought it was a hijacking, but it was later alleged that the incident was gang-related.”
The source explained that the man who was shot was allegedly related to a well-known gang leader.
“We do not know if the man is a gangster himself, but he is the son of a gang leader. He was shot in the hand and the baby boy was shot in the stomach.
“The man then drove down Belgravia Road, where an ambulance was attending to another medical emergency.
“The baby is in hospital and the mother escaped unwounded.”
Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said the circumstances surrounding the shooting were under investigation.
“According to reports, the victim was driving with his family when they came under attack. The victims were taken to a medical facility for medical treatment,” said Twigg.
Twigg said Lansdowne police had registered cases of attempted murder for investigation.
“The suspects fled the scene and are yet to be arrested.”
In two separate incidents just 11km away, and just eight hours prior to the Belgravia shooting, four people were shot.
Twigg confirmed that police were investigating cases of murder and attempted murder for the first incident which took place in Brown’s Farm at about 3pm.
“The circumstances surrounding the shooting incident in Bristol Road, Brown’s Farm, Nyanga, (in which) a 27-year-old male was shot and fatally wounded and an adult male (was) shot and wounded are under investigation.
He said the 27-year-old was declared dead on the scene by medical personnel. The passenger was taken to a hospital for treatment.
In the second incident, Twigg said a man, 30, and a woman, 26, were fatally shot in a shack at the back of a house.
He said the shooting took place on Friday evening at about 9.15pm in Bhala Street, Lusaka, in Nyanga. The suspects fled the scene and are yet to be arrested in both incidents.
The acting chairperson of the Community Policing Forum (CPF) in Nyanga, Michael Bangani, said he was shocked to hear that four people were shot.
The shooting incidents also came three weeks after the Nyanga community bid farewell to their former station commander, Brigadier Vuyisile Ncata.
Ncata took a new position as Nelson Mandela Bay's new district commissioner this month after eight years at the Nyanga police station.
Bangani said it was too early to judge the acting station commander based on these two incidents.
“We cannot criticise him. But we have spoken and engaged with him; he seems to be a crime fighter like the previous one. We need to give him space and time to do what he does the best,” he said.
Anyone with any information about these shooting incidents can contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.