An off-duty police officer was shot and killed while attending to his girlfriend’s car after it suffered a tyre blowout on the N2 near the Scottsburgh Mall on Thursday night.
Constable JJ Govender, stationed at POP Port Shepstone, was travelling towards Durban in the company of his girlfriend, each in their own vehicle when tragedy struck.
The chilling incident occurred at approximately 22h20 when Cst Govender was travelling towards Durban from Port Shepstone in his blue Toyota Tazz, accompanied by his girlfriend, Constable N Soni, stationed at Chatsworth SAPS, who was following him in her silver VW Polo.
Both officers were off duty and did not have their service firearms with them.
Tragedy struck as they reached a section of the freeway, when Constable Soni’s vehicle suffered a tyre burst, forcing both vehicles to come to a halt at the side of the road.
Cst Govender immediately stopped in front of Cst Soni’s vehicle to assist with changing the damaged tyre on her VW Polo.
As Cst Govender was in the process of changing the tyre, two unidentified African males approached them, brandishing firearms and demanding their cell phones and valuables.
A terrifying scuffle ensued between the officer and the armed suspects.
During the struggle, one of the suspects discharged two rounds from his firearm, striking Govender in the left shoulder.
Despite his injuries, Cst Govender attempted to reach his vehicle but tragically collapsed next to it.
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The situation escalated rapidly, leaving the officers in grave danger.
In a stroke of providence, a passing patrol vehicle travelling in a southerly direction on the freeway noticed the two stationary cars and attempted to turn around to investigate the situation.
However, at that very moment, the suspects seized the opportunity to flee the scene on foot, heading in a northerly direction towards Scottburgh.
Tragically, despite the prompt arrival of ambulance staff, Cst Govender was pronounced deceased on the scene, leaving the law enforcement community in mourning.
The perpetrators managed to escape with two cell phones, each belonging to the two leaving investigators with a daunting task of tracking down the assailants and seeking justice for this senseless act of violence.
