The Hawks boss Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya have commended the SAPS for stopping a planned ATM bombing in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga.
Five suspects were killed, and one suspect was wounded and arrested in a shootout with the police officers in the early hours of this morning.
Hawks’ spokesperson Katlego Mogale says the officers acted on a tip-off about suspects planning to bomb an ATM.
“Tactical Operation Management section of the DPCI as well as the SAPS special task force this morning fatally wounded five suspects and one was taken in for medical attention. This is following information received by the Multi-disciplinary team, that there would be robbers or ATM bombers that would be in this area of Emalahleni with suspicion that they’re going to commit an ATM bombing and upon realization that they’re faced with police officers they tried to flag down the vehicle, the suspects started firing at them, they returned fire, wounding five of them and sixth suspect is in hospital under police guard. In the vehicle, explosives were found as well as two rifles and three handguns”.
Some eMalahlane residents say they are shocked because such incidents are not common in their area.
Van Castle who witnessed the incident says, “It was just a few minutes past two, when the first gunshots went down. I was just about to sleep I wasn’t sleeping yet – but then what happened, I decided no, I am not going to check. At round about 15 minutes past two, the second gunshots went off, I went out of the house to go and check but as soon as I went out, I heard the police and some people screaming go back, and I went back into the house.”
Emalahleni Shootout | Five suspected ATM bombers killed in police shootout: Col. Katlego Mogale
Ofentse Setimo
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