Police gunfire hits boy

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) is investigating a shooting in Laingville, during which a nine-year-old boy was wounded in the head, allegedly by police gunfire.

Police spokesperson André Traut said: “On Friday our members were deployed in Laingville, St Helena Bay, to police a service delivery-related protest action in the area where community members took to the streets and set tyres alight.”

At the time, Leo Williams was in his Wendy house watching TV when cops fired rubber bullets. He is recovering at the Red Cross Hospital.

“After our forces were withdrawn from the area, it was reported that an nine-year-old boy residing in Begonia Street sustained a head wound,” adds Traut.

“It is yet to be established how the wound was inflicted. The circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated by IPID.”

Residents have been protesting over housing and land in the area since Friday.

They claim the Saldanha Bay Municipality has ignored them for years.

Hospital spokesperson Dwayne Evans said: “A patient matching the description was admitted to the ICU at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital with a head injury and is currently in a critical, but stable, condition.”

Leo’s guardian Cathy Thomas, says: “I want to tell the community to do good without violence because violence resulted in him lying there (in hospital) fighting for his life.

“Our children are getting shot by police. And I know that there are people that are protecting the police but God will deal with them.”

Cape Argus