Cape Town - A 24-year-old man was killed and three other people were wounded as gang violence continues unabated in Lotus River and Ottery.
The victims were sitting at a park in Ottery when unknown gunmen opened fire at them on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said Grassy Park Serious and Violent Crimes detectives were pursuing all leads to find the suspects.
“Reports suggest that at around 5.15pm, unknown gunmen opened fire at the victims.
“One man did not survive, while two men and a woman were admitted to hospital with gunshot wounds.
“The motive for this murder and three counts of attempted murders is believed to be gang related,” Swartbooi said.
A resident, who asked not be named due to fear of reprisal, said the shootings have been non-stop since the attack on a barber on June 21.
“We are constantly scared to walk or drive around in the area.
“The problem is now in Ottery and Lotus River. This has been ongoing since the shooting of the barber, and what I understand about that is that the deceased was reportedly innocent.
“Then two other innocent people were killed, more were shot and then on Tuesday the four were shot.
“The guy who died covered his girlfriend with his body. If he hadn’t done that then she would have died too,” the resident said.
“Lotus River and Ottery are under siege, we are trapped in our homes and the hot spot seems to be De Wet Road.”
Community police forum deputy chairperson Nicole Jacobus urged residents to report suspects to the police.
“We hear people preaching that they want the army to come into the area, but that won’t help if they are not told who the shooters are.
“On that note, more police officers have been deployed in the area to combat this. They need assistance from the community, they can’t do this alone.
“We also need the residents to stop attacking police when they are trying to do their job.
“We had a march about the attack on members and right after that a van’s tyres were slashed.
“At the moment we can’t say why there is a war in Lotus River/Ottery, just that we are concerned. We are still trying to find out the tally of the murders and attempted murders in the last few weeks.”
Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Anroux Marais said the spike in the number of shootings within the Grassy Park policing precinct is concerning.
“My heart-felt empathy goes out to the families and friends of the victims. It forms part of the harsh reality of almost 120 murders committed in the Western Cape during the last week of June. It shows the urgency of my stated objective to have the number of police officers in the Western Cape increased to the fair number in terms of the census, namely 12% of the national total, which the province should rightly have,” said Marais.
The police have appealed to anyone with information to call Crime Stop at 0860010111 or to use the mobile application MySAPS anonymously.
Cape Argus