‘Mistaken identity’ leads to cops shooting Hawks officer

An undercover Hawks officer is fighting for his life in hospital after being shot by police in Randfontein.

It is understood local police responded to gunshots a few metres away from their station on Friday. They subsequently found a stand-off between the undercover Hawks officers and suspected hijackers.

The cops then spotted a man under a tree with a rifle, and they instructed him to drop his firearm, but he looked away and continue to focus on his target.

The officers opened fire at the undercover cop shooting him in the upper body.

"It was later discovered that the person who was shot in the chest under the tree was instead, a police constable from DPCI TOMS and he was attending to an incident of a car hijack of the Silver Audi A3 vehicle that he had pointed towards with his rifle.

“The officer was then rushed to Milpark Hospital. An investigation by the IPID can confirm that the man who was shot on a mistaken identity was indeed a constable and part of the DPCI Operation,” says Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesperson Grace Langa.

One suspected hijacker was shot and killed, while the other one remains in Leratong hospital under police guard.