KwaZulu-Natal police fatally shot three suspects linked to a series of murders and other crimes during a fierce gunfight in Inanda on Tuesday night.
According to Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda, the suspects were also connected to the killing of a police sergeant last year.
Netshiunda explained that a coordinated effort involving the Provincial Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) Tracking Team, DPCI Anti-Gang Unit, KZN Provincial Tactical Response Team, Pietermaritzburg K9 unit, Inanda Task Team, and private security was launched based on intelligence about the suspects’ location.
When the team reached a house on Nombonjani Mtshali Road in Inanda’s Congo area, the suspects opened fire, prompting a return of gunfire.
The ensuing shootout resulted in three suspects being fatally wounded and declared dead at the scene.
He also mentioned that a manhunt is ongoing for a fourth suspect.
Netshiunda confirmed that the suspects were positively identified in connection with the murder of a sergeant from the KwaMashu Tracking Team, who was disarmed and killed with his own firearm in June 2023.
“The suspects are also linked to a double murder in Inanda in January 2024, as well as two other murder cases in Inanda from 2021 and 2023,” Netshiunda added. Provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, noted that one of the suspects is particularly notorious and has been evading arrest for some time.
Mkhwanazi praised the efforts of the police officers who engaged informants and the local community policing forum for their assistance in locating the suspects.