A manhunt has been launched after three men pretending to be hijack victims robbed a police station of rifles and pistols on Wednesday morning.
A MANHUNT has been launched after three men robbed the Devon police station, in the Ekurhuleni district, of firearms early on Wednesday morning.
“According to a preliminary investigation, three suspects entered the station during the early hours of Wednesday morning under the pretence that they were reporting a hijacking incident,” said national SAPS spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe.
She said the men proceeded to disarm SAPS members on duty and made off with 10 firearms – three rifles and seven pistols – that were in the safe.
“The provincial commissioner of Gauteng, Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela has deployed maximum resources in a bid to apprehend those who are behind an attack. The Employee Health and Wellness (EHW) unit has also been deployed to the station to provide psychosocial services to affected members,” Mathe said.
In a separate incident, 158 firearms were stolen from the Norwood police station.
An investigation, which stemmed from a shooting last year between the police and armed robbers, led to the startling revelation of the firearms theft which included R5s, R1s and AK-47s. A police officer was killed in the shootout.
Following the revelation, Norwood SAPS station commander, Colonel Phetole Mahasha, resigned in January.
At the time, Action Society spokesperson Ian Cameron said this was not the first time Norwood police station has been involved in stolen firearms.
He said thagt in 2014, 112 assault rifles, handguns, commercial explosives and detonators were seized from a house belonging to an elderly Ukrainian couple in Norwood. It was discovered that the seized firearms were removed from the station’s evidence storeroom.
