JOHANNESBURG (AP) – An armed gang opened fire in a poor neighborhood South Africa's largest cityPolice said on Wednesday that 12 people were killed and at least nine injured before they fled in a minibus.
The mass shooting occurred late Tuesday night in an informal settlement in the Cleveland suburb of Johannesburg, police said. At least 10 attackers took part in the killings.
organized crime gang There has been a long-running competition for control over illegal mining and other activities in Johannesburg. Police did not release a motive and said the shooting was under investigation.
Police said in a statement that the shooter “moved into the area and opened fire at residents and community members at multiple locations” before fleeing the scene.
According to police, nine men and three women were killed. Eleven died at the scene and one died in hospital.
Police say the shooting was senseless and brutal
Police are searching for the suspects and their vehicle but have made no arrests.
The provincial police commissioner, Tommy Mthombeni, called the killings “insane, heartless and somewhat barbaric”. Mthombeni said it was too early to link the violence to illegal mining gangs but police were investigating. He said police had seized illegal firearms, including assault rifles, in a recent operation in the area and that illegal miners were known to operate there.
Ambulances were at the scene Wednesday morning to transport bodies of the victims, while community members gathered in groups on the streets. Some of them said that bullets were fired at their houses.
Resident Nkosinathi Phatha said his uncle was among those killed.
“I was sleeping at home with my daughter, but we all woke up when the gunfire started,” Fatha said. “I'm still shaking, my young girl is still in shock.”
Informal settlements are common in and around South Africa's major cities, where people seeking permanent housing live in shacks and other temporary structures. Illegal miners sometimes operate in the same areas.
Residents said the settlement has a problem with illegal miners and the police rarely help.
“This area is not safe… the police are not doing anything about it and if we start taking the law into our own hands, we will be in trouble,” Fatha said.
'It was basically a massacre'
Government of Africa's largest economy deployed the army The operation will be launched in high-risk areas in and around Johannesburg in March to crack down on illegal mines run by criminal syndicates and other organized crime. The year-long operation has been condemned by opposition MPs and crime analysts as an admission that police are losing the fight against organized crime.
South Africa has extremely high violent crime ratesAccording to official crime statistics, more than 23,000 murders were recorded in the country last financial year, an average of more than 60 per day.
Local politician Jack Bloom said there have been crimes and murders in the area before, but this shooting was different and appeared to be linked to criminal gangs.
“It was basically a massacre. It's horrific,” Bloom said.
Illegal gold mining is happening on a large scale in the area.
South Africa has been hit Several recent high-profile mass shootingsWhich also includes two incidents that took place in December in which more than 20 people were killed. one of those attacks Many shooters are also involved in this.
Violent gangs are involved in illegal mining In and around Johannesburg, where there are large gold deposits and many abandoned mines. Gangs search abandoned mines for leftover gold reserves, which they sometimes dump in informal settlements. Rival gangs also fight ground wars or use violence against communities to establish control over those areas.
Local council member Newren Peterson confirmed that illegal mining gangs had links to Cleveland, but said that other problems also existed in the suburb, such as tensions over land, and he was not convinced that these gangs were responsible for the latest murders.
“There are a lot of moving parts here, so it's hard to figure out what's causing the problem,” Peterson said in an interview with eNCA TV station.
Acting National Police Commissioner Puleng Dimpen said in a statement that forensic investigators and tactical response teams have been deployed to the scene. Locating the white minibus is a priority, Dimpen said.
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Imre reported from Cape Town, South Africa. Associated Press writer Michelle Gumede in Johannesburg contributed.
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