Durban — With little to no information to go by, police have reported that two suspects were shot dead and another, aged 19, was arrested and they have been linked to the murder of Warrant Officer Michael Jameson as well as carjackings and armed robberies in Durban.
Over the weekend it was reported that on Friday afternoon, there had been a shooting on the M13 Durban bound after Stapleton Road in Pinetown.
Information received revealed that two people had been shot. A silver Mini Cooper was chased and crashed.
Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said that two suspects were shot dead during a shoot-out with police and one was apprehended with the assistance of a K9 on the M13 Durban bound on Friday afternoon.
Netshiunda said that vigilant police spotted a vehicle which matched the description of one which was seen at various crime scenes and ordered the driver to stop. The suspects defied police instructions and drove off at high speed.
He said realising that the police were catching up with them, the suspects started shooting at the police and a shoot-out ensued.
“The suspects’ vehicle lost control and overturned. The driver managed to free himself from the wreckage and attempted to flee but police’s K9 apprehended him,” Netshiunda said.
“Two suspects were found inside the vehicle and had sustained fatal gunshot wounds. The vehicle which the suspects were travelling in had two registration plates. Preliminary investigations proved that the vehicle was hijacked in Umbilo earlier this month.
“The suspects were positively linked with the murder of police Warrant Officer Mike Jameson who was murdered in Umbilo in May 2022. They were also linked with carjackings and armed robberies in Umbilo and Bellair,” Netshiunda said.
He said that no police officer was injured during the shoot-out.
Netshiunda added that the 19-year-old suspect will also be charged with the attempted murder of police officers and will appear in court soon.
Recently, the public was warned to be aware of the metallic silver Mini Cooper, reported to have been involved in three incidents in the Durban area specifically on the corner of Deodar Avenue and Lena Ahrens Road, Manor Gardens area and Sydenham area.
The vehicle was believed to be using cloned plates.
A warning was also issued that the suspects are armed and there were vehicles actively looking for the suspects. At the time of the warning, the suspects were believed to be heading towards the Overport/Musgrave area.
Jamieson was off-duty when he was shot dead during a hijacking incident.
At the time of the incident, Emer-G-Med spokesperson Kyle van Reenen said that their paramedics, Netcare 911 and the SAPS responded to the scene of a shooting incident outside a primary school on Bulwer Road.
“Reports from the scene are that a male of approximately 45 years of age was found on the sidewalk with fatal gunshot wounds,” Van Reenen said.
“He was declared dead after the arrival of paramedics.”
Van Reenen said that it was believed that the shooting was linked to a hijacking incident, however, an official statement would be made by the police.
According to the Facebook page Action Bulletproof, Warrant Officer Michael Jameson was picking his daughter up from school and witnessed a hijacking. He intervened and was shot dead. The incident occurred outside his daughter’s school.
eThekwini Secure's Zain Soosiwala said the suspects had crashed a Mercedes-Benz but had also hijacked a Nissan NP200, then abandoned it for another hijacked vehicle, a Ford EcoSport.
They were at large in the Hammarsdale area and had hijacked another vehicle, Soosiwala said.
Additional information from Umbilo South Community Assist - Umbilo Sector 2 suggests the following on the hijacked vehicles:
- Black Mercedes Benz recovered (crashed) in Hammarsdale.
- Nissan NP200 hijacked by the same suspects as a getaway vehicle. Nissan NP200 recovered in Hammarsdale.
- Suspects hijacked a Ford EcoSport, which was tracked in Hammarsdale and recovered.
- Suspects still on the run (unconfirmed reports of another vehicle hijacked and used as another getaway vehicle.)
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