Robber killed in shoot-out with cops, five arrested after store heists in Tshwane
|Published
They allegedly took cellphones, laptops, clothes and undisclosed amount of cash. Photo: Supplied
PRETORIA – Tshwane police arrested five alleged robbers and left one dead during a shoot-out after two retail stores were robbed on Sunday.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo said the robberies occurred in two different locations around Tshwane.
“In the first incident, it is alleged that about 10 armed suspects entered a shop at Soshanguve Crossing Mall, where they held employees at gunpoint and took cellphones, laptops, clothes and undisclosed amount of cash,” said Masondo.
He said the suspects were tracked down and found in Orchards where a shoot-out ensued.
“One suspect was fatally wounded and the other two were arrested. Police recovered items suspected to have been stolen from the shop.”
In the second incident, three armed men stormed into a shop at the Kopanong Complex in Temba, Hammanskraal, and took about 40 new cellphones.
The suspects were also traced and found in possession of six unlicensed firearms and more than 35 cellphones.
Masondo said that the arrested suspects would be profiled and the firearms would be taken for ballistic tests to establish if they were not linked to other crimes.
The suspects would be charged with business robbery, attempted murder, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
“More charges might be added,” he said.
IOL