Six killed in South Beach shootout

They were understood to have been linked to the murders of four people in Marianhill on Sunday evening, and three men in Mpumalanga Township on Friday. 

KZN police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda says they were also linked to a spate of robberies and drug dealing. 

He says officers were tipped off about the gangs' whereabouts in Newlands East, and then traced them to a rented holiday flat on South Beach Avenue, in Durban's Point area, early on Tuesday morning.

"When police announced their presence at the apartment, the suspects opened fire and a shootout ensued. Prior to a thorough search of the apartment, police had found three firearms in the possession of the suspects. The firearms will be taken for ballistic testing to ascertain if they could be linked to other crime scenes."

Netshiunda says police are also hot on the heels of the person who booked the room for the six suspects. No officers were hurt during the shootout.

Meanwhile, Netshiunda says police made over 12 000 arrests for various crimes including murder last month. 

Almost 500 illegal guns were taken off KZN's streets.

"One-hundred-and-fifty-six suspects were nabbed for murder cases and 203 were arrested for cases of attempted murder. 220 suspects were traced and arrested for their alleged involvement in various cases of robberies including truck jacking and business robberies."

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