A grieving family is seeking answers after a 59-year-old ouma was allegedly gunned down by her young neighbour.
Lydia Rooi, 59, was relaxing in her Hillview home on Tuesday afternoon when the suspect’s mother called her over to their shack.
Minutes later Lydia’s husband was informed that she was being taken to hospital.
The victim’s niece Natasha Rooi, 35, says they have been left in the dark as nobody can give them a straight answer on how she died or what led up to the shooting.
A hartseer Natasha explains: “One of my aunts contacted us and told us that Aunty Lydia had been shot. We didn’t know what happened.
“We went to the day hospital and we got the news that she had passed on.
“No one knows the right story, only the child who shot and his mother who knows what happened.”
Community members claim the grandma of three was accidentally shot while the 23-year-old suspect was cleaning a gun.
But Natasha says they are not buying that story: “If this was the case, then why did he shoot her twice, and why would the [suspect’s] mother clean the house and not wait for the police?
“They called my aunt over to them, she was lying on her bed and then they called her to come over. No one could hear the gunshots.
“A girl saw them while they put my aunt in the car, and shouted to alert my uncle who then went to see.
“Lydia was taken to hospital. I want to know what the reason for the shooting was. Why did he take someone who was known by the community?
“She was lovely. Even the police were shocked that she had been the victim of this shooting.”
Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg says Muizenberg police registered a murder case for investigation and arrested a man.
He reports: “According to reports the victim was shot in the Village Heights informal settlement in Hillview and was transported to a medical facility for medical treatment where she succumbed to injuries sustained.
“The victim sustained a gunshot wound to her face. The motive for the attack is yet to be established. We can confirm that a 23-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday evening and will appear in the Simon’s Town Magistrates’ court on Thursday, 29 August 2024.”
Anyone with any information about this incident is kindly requested to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za