Three suspects linked to the murder of a police officer and several attempted murder cases in Gauteng were shot dead during a confrontation with police in De Deur, south of Johannesburg, on Wednesday morning.
Why it matters: The incident reflects the scale of violent crime targeting police officers in South Africa and the increasingly lethal nature of operations to apprehend armed suspects in Gauteng.
What happened
Members of the Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit followed up on intelligence about the suspects’ location. When officers arrived, the suspects opened fire. Police returned fire and fatally wounded all three men.
A revolver and two pistols with ammunition were recovered at the scene. According to police, the suspects were linked to the murder of a serving officer as well as multiple attempted murder cases across the province.
Pattern of confrontations
The De Deur shootout is the second fatal police confrontation in Gauteng in just over a week. On 1 April, four suspects were killed and two arrested during a shootout with police in Soweto. In that case, the suspects were also linked to serious violent crimes.
The South African Police Service has not released the identities of the De Deur suspects or the officer whose murder they are linked to. An inquest docket has been opened, which is standard procedure when suspects die during police operations.