A 12-year-old girl from Wesbank has died after gunmen allegedly opened fire on a group of children during load shedding on Sunday night.
The hartseer mother of Kelly-Amber Koopman says she could not believe her eyes as she watched her first-born child being declared dead in Ou Plaas Street.
Mom Undean, 37, says: “Kelly lives with her ouma and we live on the other side [of Wesbank]. I was at home when people came running and screaming that Kelly was shot.
“The load shedding started just after 10pm and she was sitting with a group of friends. They are all youngsters and at school, and they just shot them. When I got there, they told me she didn’t make it. I could not believe it as they said they are declaring her dead.”
Undean says while standing at the crime scene, she was informed that her daughter, a Grade 7 learner from Wesbank No.1 Primary School, had been shot in the head.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk confirmed the incident and says Mfuleni police are now investigating a murder and two attempted murder cases after two boys, aged 15 and 17, were also injured in the shooting.
Van Wyk says: “According to reports, SAPS members attended a murder complaint at the mentioned address.
“Upon their arrival at the scene, they found the body of a female and two male victims who were also shot.
“The female sustained a gunshot wound to the head and she was declared deceased at the scene by ambulance personnel. Both injured victims were transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. The body of the deceased was transported to the mortuary.
“Circumstances surrounding this shooting incident are under investigation. The motive is unknown at this stage.”
Kelly’s great-grandmother Francis Gordon, 82, who raised her, described Kelly as an obedient child and says her heart is shattered by the shooting.
Gordon says: “My heart is stukkend gebreek, because I raised her so far.
“I was sleeping at the time of the shooting, but the people shouted and I just slept. Her father came to tell me this morning. I don’t want to talk about the shooting, I am too hartseer.”
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