Law enforcement officer shot d

Image by ValynPi14 from Pixabay

Law enforcement officer shot dead and second wounded

Municipal law enforcement officials caught in deadly shootout with six robbers at Emalahleni filling station.

Law enforcement officer shot d

Image by ValynPi14 from Pixabay

Police in Mpumalanga say they have launched an intensive manhunt for suspects who shot and killed a law enforcement officer and wounded another.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday 25 July at Emalahleni, formerly known as Witbank.

Police spokesperson, Brigadier Leonard Hlathi, said available information suggests that a group of about six suspects went to a filling station along the road to Lynville, near Emalahleni, where they robbed employees of their belongings.

They also allegedly placed explosives on the counter and threatened to detonate them should the employees try to alert police.

Municipal law enforcement officials interrupted the robbery

However, they were however interrupted by municipal law enforcement officers patrolling in the vicinity, who went to the filling station not knowing that there was a robbery in progress.

“This resulted in a crossfire between these [law enforcement] members and the suspects, which led to Warrant Officer Samuel Nkosi being fatally wounded, while his 53-year-old colleague sustained gunshot injuries to his right hand,” Hlathi said.

Police and medical services were called to the scene, whereupon Nkosi was certified dead on the scene and whilst the injured officer was taken to hospital.

Community is asked to assist with identifying those involved

Hlathi said the Provincial Commissioner for Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma, had called on the community to assist with the investigation and apprehension of those involved.

“[The commissioner] has also sent his deepest condolences to the Nkosi family and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured colleague. We consider what has happened as an attack [on] law enforcement agencies at large and the perpetrators cannot go [unpunished]. They must be found,” Hlathi stated.

Two men jailed for 35 years for Cape Town police murder

In June, two men were each sentenced to a total of 35 years in prison following the murder of a Cape Town SAPS officer six years ago.

Mxolisi Rhulumente, 40, and Annesly David Campher, 32, were each sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for the murder of Sergeant Xoliza Mlindwa, 41, who was attached to the Gugulethu SAPS crime prevention unit. They received an additional 15 years each for the related crimes.

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