SAPS

Shoout Out Scene Between SAPS Hawks and Criminals in Kriel Mpumalanga

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• published: 01 Aug 2016
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With Gang In Kriel TOPICS:Arisja MissselhornBuks ViljoenCrime SyndicateGangHawksHijackKrielPolice 31/07/2016 It looked like a scene from an action movie. It sounded as if someone was setting off fireworks. This is how eyewitnesses described a shootout in Kriel, Mpumalanga, between the Hawks and a robbery gang today (Sunday 31 July). Two members of the Hawks in Pretoria, Capt. Boats Botha and Sgt Wynand Herbs, were wounded in the clash when the gang members opened fire on the cops’ vehicle. Botha sustained a gunshot wound to his shoulder and Herbst’s left hand was injured by shrapnel. At least one suspect was shot dead in the driveway of a house Bosbok Street. The suspects were apparently hiding there. According to a source close to the investigation, the house was allegedly being used as a head office for a crime syndicate. The mini war erupted when the Hawks apparently wanted to raid on the house in Bosbok Street. The Hawks have been investigating the gang’s criminal activities for some time. These activities allegedly included hijackings, armed robberies and drug smuggling. Apparently the Hawks were on the way from Pretoria to raid the house in Kriel when they spotted a suspicious vehicle. This car had apparently been stolen in a hijacking earlier this morning. The cops trailed the vehicle to where the driver pulled it into the driveway in Bosbok Street. Bullets began flying the moment the Hawks pulled up to the yard. The eyewitnesses described how the two policemen jumped out of the white panel van they were travelling in, threw rifles to each other and crawled underneath their vehicle for cover. The panel van was riddled with bullet holes. The gang members allegedly fired off shots at anything they saw move. Farmers in the district, as well as the local CPF, a security company and the local cops rush to aid the trapped members of the Hawks. Several gang members also jumped over the back wall into the yard of a house in Impala Street and tried to escape into a nearby field. Two police helicopters were circling the scene searching for the fleeing suspects. Members from TOMS (Tactical Operations Management Section), a field team of the Hawks then arrived on the scene, and were soon joined by the members of the Task Force. They penetrated the house while a police helicopter hovered just above the roof. Some of the gangsters were allegedly wounded in the raid. One was caught hiding a doghouse. Police then searched both houses in Bosbok and Impala Street for more suspects who might have fled on foot. In their search, the police found and confiscated explosives, an AK 47 assault rifle, a R1 rifle, and three R5 rifles, as well as a pistol and several bullet proof vests belonging to the air force, police and army. They apparently also recovered three hijacked BMWs and a Corsa bakkie. Shayne van der Heever and his paramedics team from Langamed South ambulances transported the four wounded culprits to the police station. The police were still combing the area by sunset for more suspects after reports that two dogs were shot several blocks from where the shootout took place. Brig Hangwani Maulaudzi, spokesman for the Hawks, confirmed that nine suspects were apprehended. They will be appearing in the Kriel Magistrate’s Court on Monday 1 August. Two of the men are apparently also among the accused on trial for a cash in transit heist in Witbank. Maulaudzi said the condition of the wounded policemen was not serious. – Story by Buks Viljoen (senior journalist for Media 24) and Arisja Misselhorn (Editor of The Bulletin).