SA gunmen in shopping mall shoot-out
JOHANNESBURG – Seven people have been injured in a South African shopping centre after gunmen attempted to storm a bank.
Police would not say how many suspects were involved but the Bedford Centre in Bedfordview, near Johannesburg, was targeted by at least two robbers around 11am.
They were confronted by security guards as they tried to enter the shopping centre’s Standard Bank and a shoot-out ensued.
Witnesses said the robbers made it to a nearby grocery store before trying to escape, shooting as they moved around the shopping centre.
Staff and shoppers were reported to have been guided out of the building through a back entrance.
Bedfordview police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Katlego Mogale said seven people were injured – two suspects, two security guards and three shoppers.
A 9mm handgun and an AK47 were found at the scene.
The two guards were shot in the leg and are in a stable condition while the others – a woman and four men – were described as being in a serious to critical condition in hospital.
One man told Eyewitness News: “As I came out of the toilet I just saw people firing guns. A lady came past me and she was shot in the crossfire. Three people were shot. I think it was a robbery.”
As emergency services tried to end the siege, a woman told how she hid from the gunmen under a flight of stairs.
She said: “They have shot people. There’s a huge gang. I don’t know what they robbed but there’s one still inside here. There are still gunshots going off. It’s chaos.”
The Bedford Centre said on its Twitter account: “Bedford are investigating this horrific incident, no stores were involved.”
The incident is the latest in a number of attempted robberies at shopping centres in Gauteng province – including three in August and five in September. Sky News
