The provincial police commissioner has vowed that the man accused of callously shooting a young police officer dead on Thursday night will never see the sun outside of prison.
Lieutenant-general Thembisile Patekile said this much on Friday morning after constable Ashwin Pedro, 26, was gunned down, allegedly by a known gangster, in Blackbird Road, Parkwood.
The Grassy Park officer was murdered on Thursday evening.
Police said Pedro and his partner had reacted on information of an armed suspect in Blackbird Avenue and during an altercation with the suspect, the cop was shot in the chest. His partner was unharmed.
After the shooting, the 42-year-old suspect fled to Ravensmead where the SAPS’ anti-gang unit (AGU) detectives tracked him down and apprehended him.
Patekile said: “We’ve learned of the untimely death of our member who was killed by a person who has no respect for human lives and the law.
“That person shot our member while performing his operational duties in the area. Unfortunately he succumbed to death.
“He was busy with festive season operations, they were busy with stop and search. The update we have is that the suspect was arrested.
“He [Pedro] was in the service of the country, he was so young, his future was bright in the police but somebody took it away, deprived the community, the country and the family of good things that were still to come.”
The commissioner had a private conversation with Ashwin’s family who indicated that they were not ready to speak to the media.
“We came to the family to share the grief with them and we have seen how devastated they are.
“He was the eldest son of the family.
“The father said he didn’t know how to arrange a funeral as he had never had to do that before,” Patekile shared.
He also said they had retrieved Pedro’s stolen service pistol.
“We have arrested the suspect and got the gun back and we will oppose bail and make sure that he never sees the sun outside.
“Thank you to the community who assisted in arresting the suspect.”
SAPS police spokesperson Andrè Traut said the Hawks will lead the investigation into the circumstances around Pedro’s death.
“The effective and rapid deployment of resources to hunt down the suspect led anti-gang unit members to Ravensmead where a 42-year-old man was arrested at his hideout late [on Thursday],” Traut added.
“The 9mm pistol he stole during the altercation with the SAPS members was found in his possession and confiscated.”
The suspect is due to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court today.