A scene where three foreign nationals fatally wounded in Johannesburg CBD on Monday. Image: Public Safety MMC.
(The Post News )– The South African Police Service (SAPS) has launched a manhunt after three foreign national shop owners were shot and killed in the Johannesburg CBD on Monday.
Police confirmed that three men were gunned down in a brazen daylight attack inside McDonald’s restaurant on the corner of Jeppe and Small streets on Monday. The incident unfolded in front of shocked patrons as multiple shots rang out across the busy CBD. The suspects allegedly fled the scene after the shooting.
Police said the Ethiopian nationals, aged between 30 and 45, were having breakfast when two masked suspects entered the restaurant and opened fire. The victims sustained gunshot wounds, and they were declared dead on the scene by emergency medical personnel.
The City of Johannesburg Public Safety MMC, Councillor Moshe Koma, preliminary information suggests that these killings may be linked to a business turf war within the Ethiopian community. “Or that the victims could have been witnesses in an ongoing kidnapping case currently before the courts,” said Koma.
Another Ethiopian National Gunned Down in Joburg CBD
In a separate incident, another Ethiopian national was fatally shot in the CBD on Sunday. The incident believed to be a targeted assassination happened on the corner of Rahima Moosa and Von Wielligh streets. CCTV footage shows three men approaching the scene minutes before the shooting, displaying a photograph of the victim and asking about his whereabouts.
MMC Koma said, according to the CCTV footage, a bystander directed the suspects to the victim’s location. “Two of the males then entered the passageway of a building where the victim, an Ethiopian national operating a clothing shop, was present. One suspect produced what appeared to be a revolver and shot the victim at point-blank range,” explained Koma.
Koma has urged anyone with information on these incidents to come forward and assist the police.
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