Two teenage girls have been shot, one fatally, in two separate incidents as they made their way home from in their first week back at school.
On Friday at 2.15pm, a 15-year-old girl was outside her home in Wesbank when gangsters started shooting.
The Grade 8 learner was caught in the crossfire as she ran into her Volgevlei Road home. A bullet hit her in the thigh.
Her cousin, who asked not to be named, said: “She had just come from school and was sitting under the tree.
“At first the gangsters started throwing stones and then they started shooting with guns.
“My cousin was struck by a stray bullet. The boys were shooting people on the opposite side of the street.”
“She was wounded on her first day at school in Delft. Every day there is a shooting on this road and we don’t understand why the police aren’t doing anything about this.”
The 15-year-old was rushed to hospital and was given a walker.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said Mfuleni police have registered an attempted murder case for investigation.
He confirms: “Police members attended the crime scene where they found the victim with a gunshot wound to her leg. The victim was taken to a medical facility for medical treatment. According to reports, the victim was caught in the crossfire when rival gangs started shooting at each other.”
In another incident, a 14-year-old girl was shot and killed as she was walking with her mother in Marcus Garvey.
Residents say they heard gunshots going off like firecrackers.
A witness says: “When we heard the shots, we didn’t think those were bullets and then we realised that once again someone was shooting.
“It has been a daily occurrence.The victim was with her mother when the shooting happened. She was caught in the crossfire.
“She was from Sinethemba Secondary School in Philippi, she was still wearing her uniform. Her body was lying on the scene for more than three hours when she was finally picked up.”
Twigg confirmed the circumstances surrounding the shooting incident on Thursday at about 2.45pm in Road 15, Marcus Garvey, Philippi East, where a 14-year-old girl was shot and fatally wounded, are under investigation.
He says: “Philippi East police responded to a complaint of a shooting and upon arrival at the scene, they found the victim with gunshot wounds to her body.
“The victim was declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel.
Anyone with any information about the shooting incidents can contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za