Somali shop owner out on bail

"Facts before me show you might be guilty of culpable homicide and not murder," Magistrate Herman Badenhorst was quoted as saying.

Yusuf was granted bail of R2000 after his legal status was verified. 

The matter was postponed to March 11.

"Circumstantial evidence supports the accused's version [that] he shot two warning shots through the roof and one at the closed door," Badenhorst was quoted as saying.

Badenhorst reportedly said Yusuf may have overreacted and shot someone through the door while firing warning shots.

Yusuf is accused of shooting dead Siphiwe Mahori, 14, in Snake Park, Soweto, last Monday. He allegedly fired at a group of people trying to rob his shop.

The shooting sparked a wave of looting of foreign-owned shops, which spread from Soweto to Kagiso on the West Rand and Sebokeng in  the Vaal, causing several deaths, including a baby who was trampled  by a group of running people.

 

(File photo: Gallo Images)