'Cops' seen shooting and robbing two men in Joburg CBD
Johannesburg - Two men are fighting for their lives in hospital after they were shot at and robbed by men allegedly wearing police uniforms.
The uniformed men fired several rounds into their BMW on Wednesday afternoon in the Johannesburg CBD.
Police could not immediately be reached for comment.
Willie Delport said his son called him around 12:30, telling him he had been shot.
"He said, 'Come quickly' and told me where he was."
He said his son had been travelling with his stepfather, with whom he owns a security company in Springs.
Delport said he did not know what his son was doing in the CBD at the time of the shooting.
According to eyewitnesses on End Street, where the crime took place, six men wearing police uniforms and bulletproof vests, boxed in the red BMW shortly after 12:00.
'I almost fell onto one of them'
A woman who works in a shop facing the crime scene described the incident as shocking and scary.
"I was taking the rubbish out when I heard a noise and ran to the front of the shop. As I got to the entrance, I almost fell onto one of them [attackers]. He shouted at me, telling me to go back inside the shop. I moved back slowly because he was pointing his gun at my feet," she said.
"They were shooting at that car. They were wearing navy blue short-sleeved shirts, police uniform and bulletproof vests."
She says she was convinced the men were police officers, but did not understand why they had their faces covered with balaclavas.
"They pulled the passengers out and took out a bag from under the passenger seat. It looked heavy because they kept passing it to one another. Then they got into the cars and drove off," she said.
She called the police and an ambulance immediately after the cars sped off.
Simmy Simonato, a business owner who also witnessed the shooting, said he was on the phone at his desk when he heard loud bangs behind him.
"It was like bombs."
'I thought they were proper cops'
He turned around to look out the window, and saw "police officers" shooting at the passengers in the car.
"They were actually shooting at the guys, through the windows into the car. They shot at the driver first, and then they shot the passenger and then they grabbed him and pulled him out of the car.
"I thought, what the hell? I wanted to run outside, but my wife shouted at me to stop."
Simonato said the men were armed with what looked like AK47 rifles.
"I thought they were proper cops. How evil!"
He said the two men were screaming, "No! No! No!"as they were being attacked.
The attackers then sped off, he said.
"I thought maybe something else happened up the road and these guys were guilty of something, and that they were going to stop other people. Meanwhile its a bloody robbery. In front of my eyes!"
The two victims are currently being treated at the Milpark Hospital.
http://m.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/Cops-seen-shooting-and-robbing-two-men-in-Joburg-CBD-20150902
