Suspected hijacker killed in Durban North

A man was hijacked at gunpoint outside his home in Durban North on Wednesday, Colonel Jay Naicker said.

 

A local security firm was alerted to the hijacking and spotted the alleged hijackers in Glen Anil, Durban.

 

"The suspects allegedly opened fired on the security officials and there was an exchange of gunfire resulting in one suspect being killed."

 

The other two men fled the scene and were later arrested by the police K9 unit. The police took possession of two firearms and the vehicle used in the robbery.

 

"Initial investigations indicate that suspect's vehicle was hijacked in Phoenix," said Naicker.

 

The two would appear soon in the Verulam Magistrate's Court on charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances, and possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition. They were also expected to be linked to the Phoenix hijacking.

 

"The confiscated firearms will be sent to ballistics to ascertain whether they had been used in the commission of any other crime in the country," Naicker said.

 

KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Mmamonnye Ngobeni commended the K9 unit officers and security guards on the arrests and confiscation of firearms.

 

"We are at war with criminals in KwaZulu-Natal and they must expect police to meet fire with fire," she said.

 

"Police will never back down when confronted by heavily armed criminals and we will do whatever it takes to remove these thugs from our streets."