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Nine guards injured in 'daring' heist - bystander opens fire on robbers
August 06 2007 at 05:16PM
By Gill Gillford

A security guard was in a serious condition on Monday morning, while eight others were also admitted to hospital after having been shot in a daring highway heist in Gauteng.

The attack, however, is thought to have been foiled by an armed bystander.

At around 9am, an armoured cash-in-transit van and a white Toyota Condor, serving as the escort car, were ambushed on the N12 West, near the Kraft Road
offramp in Ekurhuleni, by a gang of more than 12 armed robbers.

'I think it was that guy who saved the situation'

Ekurhuleni metro police spokesperson Inspector Mveli Nhlapo said it appeared that the robbers, who were travelling in a BMW, a Mercedes-Benz and a Mitsubishi Colt bakkie, had ambushed the convoy on the highway and split up the two cars.

Then they opened fire on the escort car and injured all five guards in the Condor.

The four guards sitting in the van's front cabin were also shot, including the driver, who was wounded in the neck.

The robbers used the blue BMW to ram the Coin van, forcing it to stop on the centre island of the
highway.

One police officer on the scene said the robbers had been armed with a pickaxe, which was left on the side of the road when they fled after unsuccessfully trying to crack open the van.

The BMW was abandoned on the scene.

Police spokesperson Captain Jethro Mtshali said police on the scene were still guarding the van.

It was not yet known if there was money inside but it appeared as though none had been taken.

Nhlapo said the nine injured men had all been taken to Glynnwood hospital and it was not known whether any of the robbers had been injured in the shootout.

But unconfirmed reports were that at least one of them had been shot.

The violence of the shooting was borne out by the grisly scene as the front cab of the van was pooled with blood, the armoured glass windows were completely shattered and discarded boots, cut-off jackets, surgical gloves and empty syringes littered the scene.

An unnamed police officer said he believed the robbers had been distracted by a bystander, who had opened fire on them as they were trying to rob the van.

"I think it was that guy who saved the situation because then the robbers started concentrating on him and they lost their focus".

They ended up escaping with no money, he said.

Investigators on the scene cordoned off the N12 West, which was completely blocked for several hours, while the N12 East was only partially opened, causing a massive traffic backup.

Investigators placed bright orange plastic cones where about 45 spent cartridges had fallen from firearms ranging from pistols to AK-47s.

Spectators gathered in the freezing wind alongside the highway.

Ekurhuleni Emergency Services spokesperson Freddy Thaver said: "We responded and treated the nine patients for gunshot wounds".

He confirmed that one of the patients (the driver) had "life threatening injuries".

"He had wounds on his chest and neck," Thaver said, adding that no money had been taken and they could not ascertain if the robbers had sustained injuries.

Glynnwood hospital spokesperson Charlene Giraudeaux confirmed the driver was in a serious condition.

"He is currently in theatre".

"We can't comment any further on his condition," she said. Mtshali said no arrests had been made but a massive search for the suspects was under way.

This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on August 06, 2007

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