In a scene reminiscent of a Hollywood crime thriller, shocked onlookers dived for cover while others were left gaping in disbelief when two gun-toting, uniformed police officers fired three shots at a fleeing suspect in a crowded Mthatha taxi rank.
However, the officers missed their target and shot two bystanders.
A police bullet hit a man in the arm, piercing his flesh, and slammed into a woman who runs a food stall and had to be rushed to hospital.
According to onlookers, the incident happened at Mthatha’s oldest taxi rank near York Road and Elliot Street on Wednesday afternoon.
The rank bustles with food, retail and clothing shops and is regularly brimful with hundreds of shoppers and commuters.
The eyewitnesses said the two officers had watch helplessly as their suspect disappeared into the crowd.
Provincial police spokesperson Col Sibongile Soci confirmed the incident to DispatchLIVE on Thursday but referred the paper to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) which had taken over the investigation.
DispatchLIVE visited the scene on Thursday. Many commuters and taxi people were still talking about the incident but when approached by the reporter, most of them clammed up.
But three women spoke on condition that their names be withheld. They said they had seen a man being marched towards a police van parked next to a traffic circle at the bottom of York Road.
The man, who was put inside the back of the police vehicle, managed to escape and ran into the taxi rank.
One said: “Two officers with guns in their hands gave chase and fired a shot which went between his legs without making contact. He kept on running and another shot was fired but missed. Eventually the two officers caught up with him and a fight ensued. He managed to free himself and as he was running, the police fired another shot and hit a man. It went through his arm and hit a woman who runs a food stall in the rank. She had to be rushed to hospital.”
The second woman said many onlookers were left shocked and gaping in disbelief, while others leapt into action and fled to take cover behind taxis parked in the rank.
She said: “It was like watching a movie, but a very painful one. I saw the woman falling to the ground after being hit in the upper body. They did not even catch this suspect. He just vanished.”
A taxi conductor, who pleaded with DispatchLIVE not to publish his name for fear of victimisation, said the police were stationed at the Madeira police station, close to the rank.
They source said police were searching the rank for drugs. He said police carried out raids at the rank from time to time.
He said he arrived moments before the injured woman was whisked away in an ambulance.
Speculation on the condition of the woman was rife at the rank and DispatchLIVE was unable to find this out from the authorities.
However, a woman who works at the victim’s stall said the last time she had heard, the injured woman was still in hospital.
Onlookers were unable to provide her family or contact details.
Another taxi owner said they were worried the situation would cause panic among their clients. He recalled that four years ago commuters had shied away from using taxis as the industry was mired in a brutal turf battle in which scores of people died.
Ipid spokesperson Ndileka Cola confirmed that the incident had been reported to them by the police and a docket was opened.
She said the incident happened while the officers were in hot pursuit of a suspect, but was unable to provide further details at the time of writing on Thursday.
She could not confirm the condition of the victim or any other case details as Ipid staff were on leave, but said more information would be released after the Easter weekend.
“Our Ipid investigation officer visited the crime scene on Wednesday so I can confirm that we are investigating the case,” she said.
DispatchLIVE
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