Four truck hijackers killed in shootout with police in Midrand

The National Commissioner of Police, General Khehla John Sitole has welcomed the breakthrough to curb truck jackings following the arrest of several suspects in Midrand, Gauteng today.

During an intelligence-driven operation, a multi-disciplinary team comprising of members from SAPS Crime Intelligence, the Johannesburg Flying Squad, Gauteng Highway Patrol, EMPD Specialised Task Team and JMPD K9 Unit swooped in on suspects allegedly planning to hijack a truck between Pretoria and Johannesburg.

As the team entered the premises in President Park, Midrand, they were met with gunfire by some of the suspects armed with rifles and handguns.

There were 27 suspects on the premises. Four suspects were shot and killed while four others were wounded. A total of 23 suspects, including the four wounded suspects are under arrest.

The team seized three rifles including an AK-47 rifle, a Dashbrown rifle, a R5 rifle as well as 2 pistols at the scene. The team further confiscated 15 vehicles at the scene of which four were either hijacked or stolen in the areas of Garsfontein, Silverton, Wierdabrug and Olifantsfontein.

The wounded suspects were taken to hospital under police guard while the remaining 19 suspects are being detained on charges of attempted murder, conspiring to commit armed robbery, unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition and possession of vehicles suspected to stolen.

“The work done by this multi-disciplinary integrated team today is a very significant contribution to our efforts to curb organized crime in the country”, said General Sitole.

We continue to appeal to anyone who has any information on crime to please contact the SAPS Crime Stop number 08600 10111 or information may be communicated via the SAPS My SAPS App.

All information will be treated with strictest confidence and callers may remain anonymous.