Toddler hospitalised after fleeing gang shooting

A TODDLER has been hospitalised after sustaining an open wound on the back of his head while fleeing from gang bullets. 

The three-year-old was injured during an incident in Atlantis on Sunday morning during an attack on three men in what is believed to be a gang-related shooting.

As the men came under attack by four unidentified gunmen in Dura Eagles Nest around 10.13am, the toddler, who was walking with an adult, ran for cover. .

The adult picked up the laaitie, but tripped and the boy hit his head and had since been hospitalised.

The three victims between the ages of 15 to 20 years were shot and wounded and rushed to a medical facility.

Police spokesperson Captain F.C Van Wyk confirmed that four counts of attempted murder have been registered for investigation.

Van Wyk reported: “Atlantis police registered four counts of attempted murder following a shooting incident on Sunday morning at about 10:13 at Eagles Nest, Dura, Atlantis, in which a three-year-old boy and three males aged between 15 and 20 were injured. 

“The injured victims were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.  

“According to reports the victims were sitting at Eagles Nest when unidentified males approached them and randomly started shooting at them injuring the four victims in the process. 

“The motive for this attack forms part of the police investigation.”

Public relations officer for the Atlantis Community Police Forum (CPF) Noel Cloete said that they suspect that the shooting might be gang-related as the area is gang infested.

He added: “With further investigation, the investigating officers established that the child who was wounded was not shot in the shooting.

"An adult was running with the child while the shooting was going on and tripped and fell and the child sustained an open wound to the back of the head and was transferred to a hospital in Cape Town. No arrests have been made as yet.”