Police are investigating the murder of a 17-year-old boy who was gunned down after his killers apparently caught him filming an extortion incident in progress.
The teen ran home where he was shot several times with a rifle.
The incident happened on Sunday around 7pm in Philippi, at the Siyahlala informal settlement in Browns Farm.
A leaked police report reads: “The victim was busy recording suspects, busy extorting a spaza shop.
“The suspects saw him making a video and started chasing him. The boy then ran into his home and closed the door.
“One suspect fired two shots at the door and kicked the door open. He demanded the cellphone.
The suspect was armed with a rifle, he fired four shots in the lounge and the kitchen areas.
“He managed to shoot the boy, wounding him in the arm and upper body.”
The document said the suspects grabbed a cellphone and fled.
“They took the wrong phone and left the cellphone of the boy. The boy was taken to Mitchells Plain hospital. The cellphone of the victim was taken from the scene and handed in at Nyanga police station.”
The teenager died at the hospital and the police opened a murder case.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Pojie confirmed the incident is being investigated by the Nyanga SAPS detectives and that no arrests have been made yet.
Nyanga Community Policing Forum (CPF) secretary Dumisani Qwebe pleaded with police to bring back the Extortion Unit saying: “When they were operating, there were not many shootings linked to this.”
Last year, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis launched an anti-extortion campaign, while the City set up a 24-hour hotline (0800 00 6992) with a rewards system.