Durban – The SAPS officer who was off duty when he was shot during a business robbery in Durban on Sunday evening has been discharged from hospital and is back home with his family.
This was confirmed by national police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Robert Netshiunda on Wednesday.
Netshuinda said the officer was shot in the leg.
He said he could not divulge the officer’s personal information.
“The officer was discharged from hospital yesterday and he is recovering at home. He was shot in the leg,” Netshuinda told IOL.
The officer was shot when three armed robbers held up two shopkeepers inside their convenience store on Stella Road, Queensburgh.
IOL spoke to Mohammed Howlader, the shopkeeper present on the day of the robbery, who said he was assaulted and forced to lie down while the suspects cleaned out their till.
He said while the robbery was going on, the off-duty policeman, who is a customer of theirs, came into the store to make a purchase.
“He came inside and got Coke and came to the counter. That boy who was robbing us, he told him (the officer) to f*** off and go.
“After he went and came back, he brought his gun and started shooting outside,” Howlader said.
The other two suspects and Howlader heard shots outside the store.
It was revealed that the officer and the third suspect engaged in a gunfight after the officer had returned with his firearm.
Sources said police had been collecting camera footage from residents who lived close to the store to help in the investigation.
It is believed that police are looking for a silver Toyota Avanza.
IOL