KZN murder suspects allegedly linked to weekend killings shot dead by police
Officers found the gang, which they had been tracking for some time, during a midnight operation in a flat they had been using as their hideout in the Durban CBD.
The active crime scene in the Durban CBD where six suspected criminals were shot and killed by police on 3 September 2024. Picture: Nhlanhla Mabaso/Eyewitness News
DURBAN - Six murder suspects have been killed in a shootout with police in Durban.
Officers found the gang during a midnight operation in a flat they had been using as their hideout in the CBD.
KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said they had been tracking the group for some time.
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"The team arrived here, and then there was a shootout between them and those boys inside. So, it's about six of them that are lying here with firearms.
"They are young, like age average - they are supposed to be in school, some of them in matric, and some of them maybe in university - they are in that age range. But the only thing they know is to commit crime."
[WATCH] Police province commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi says the killed suspects were wanted for murders, just this past weekend they shot and killed four young boys and injured one of them in the Kwandengezi area, west of Durban. @_NMabaso pic.twitter.com/C0UIL4jRuz
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) September 3, 2024
Mkhwanazi said police moved in to arrest the six wanted suspects, but found them armed.
He said the group was linked to the recent killing of four young people over the weekend west of Durban.
"You will recall that it was in the area of Mariannhill and Kwandengezi where there was a shooting of five people; four of them died on the scene, and the other one is in the hospital."
He said it was concerning that suspects opened fire at officers during arrests, and warned those that do so would continue to be met with fire.
"And the sad part is that every time there are engagements with the police, they’re so brave that they just shoot - they don’t care, and that shooting leads to them dying most of the time."
Mkhwanazi says the group is also linked to extortion cases, they have been collecting money from business owners who they usually threaten to kill if they don’t pay them. He says police are now searching for the person who rented the hide out spot for them. @_NMabaso pic.twitter.com/2rZyDg8C8T
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) September 3, 2024
Police are now searching for one person linked to this group.
It's believed the gang is also being investigated for other crimes, including robberies, and more murder cases.