Video of incident in report.
GAUTENG. – The death toll from the mass shooting at a tavern in Wedela on the West Rand has risen to 18 after another victim died in hospital. Police are now investigating 18 murder charges and 18 of attempted murder, as well as two charges of deliberate property damage and armed robbery.
Brig. Brenda Muridili, Gauteng police spokesperson, says Lt Gen Tommy Mthombeni, Gauteng's provincial police commissioner, has assembled a dedicated multidisciplinary task team to investigate the shooting on the evening of 26 September. The team consists of experienced murder and robbery detectives, members of crime intelligence and crime scene investigation and is led by a senior brigadier from the province's crime investigation services.
Only four of the 18 deceased have been identified so far, namely two South African citizens and two from Lesotho. All the injured being treated in hospital have been identified.
According to information given to police, five of them were shot in the torso and critically injured, while the other injured persons' condition is stable. Operation Prosper, which includes the South African National Defence Force and specialised SAPS units such as the tactical response team and public order policing, has also been deployed to intensify operations in Wedela and surrounding areas. No one has been arrested yet.
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
