Police probe mass murder in Paarl
TRAGIC: Five people, including two kids, shot dead.
Police are investigating the murder of five people, including two children and two women, who were shot dead at a house in Paarl.
Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said detectives attached to the Provincial Serious and Violent Crimes Unit are probing the mass shooting, which happened in Mbekweni on Monday night.
“At around 11.15pm police members responded to a complaint of several gunshots fired at a residence in Chris Hani Street, when they discovered the bodies of three male victims aged 12, 14, and 34 and two female victims aged 32 and 39,” Traut said.
“The motive for the multiple murders is yet to be determined and arrests are yet to be made. At this stage, there is no indication that the incident is linked to the taxi strike in the province,” he added.
MEC for Police Oversight and Community Safety, Reagen Allen, has condemned the fatal shooting.
He said the fourth quarter crime statistics from January to March 2023 show that 100 women and 39 children have been murdered in the province, reports IOL.
“Respectively, this is 36 and 20 fewer murder cases, when compared to the same period of the previous year,” Allen added.
“We cannot allow the criminal element to cheapen life in this manner and I call on our communities to work with us so that this does not anchor itself in any area.
“The protection of our women and children is critical and we all should play a role in their and our own safekeeping.
“I urge those with information to make it available to all law enforcement agencies, including SAPS, so that the perpetrators can swiftly be apprehended,” he concluded.
Anyone with information on the shooting can anonymously contact Crime Stop on 086 001 0111 or use the My SAPS mobile application.