A woman who ran into a friend’s house to try and escape gang gunfire was fatally wounded in Wesbank on Saturday evening.
Eleanor East, 29, was walking in Bethel Street when the shots rang out and a stray bullet struck her in the neck.
Friend Shirlene Martins, 52, explains: “The boys were throwing stones at each other and she was walking home. When they started shooting at each other, she ran back to us and we then closed the door.
“A stray bullet went through the window. I told them that a bullet grazed me and another woman said the same thing. I looked at Eleanor and saw that she was bleeding from the neck. There wasn’t much blood, she collapsed and when the ambulance arrived, she had already passed away.”
The devastated woman says Eleanor was excited about celebrating her 30th birthday next month.
Martins says: “She invited us and said she was planning a party. She was such a nice person. She was unemployed because she was taking care of her ailing grandmother who is in her 90s.”
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said the motive is gang-related and no one has been arrested for the murder.
Van Wyk says: “Mfuleni police are investigating a murder case following a shooting incident on Saturday at 7.25pm in Bethel Street, Wesbank, where an adult female was shot and fatally wounded. Circumstances surrounding this shooting incident are under investigation.”
Wesbank Women’s Movement co-founder Elvina Cleghorn says they have been engaging with police to get their own police station.
Cleghorn says: “We want a satellite police station, we petitioned for it in August, our area is a red zone. Our councillor offered property, but the police threw that idea off the table. It looks like we are not going to get it even after so many shootings.”
Anyone with any information about the incident is requested to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za