A specialised Anti-Gang Unit has since been deployed after five people between the ages of 18 and 30 were shot and killed while they were returning from the beach on Wednesday evening.
Reeling from the brazen murder of five people, the Mamre community in Atlantis fears the shooting, which police suspect was gang-related, may ignite a spike in crime in the area.
A specialised Anti-Gang Unit has since been deployed after five people between the ages of 18 and 30 were shot and killed while they were returning from the beach on Wednesday evening.
Police spokesperson, Novela Potelwa, said the Anti-Gang Unit detectives were hard at work in search of gunmen.
The victims were in three vehicles when they were en route from Silverstream Beach when yet-to-be identified gunmen opened fire on the vehicles on the corner of Old Mamre and Silverstream Roads.
“As a consequence, five individuals between the ages of 18 and 30 were fatally wounded and five others rushed to a medical facility after sustaining gunshot wounds. Atlantis police have opened murder and attempted murder dockets for investigation. As the investigation unfolds, it is expected that the motive for the shooting incident will be determined. No arrests have been effected yet,” said Potelwa.
Atlantis CPF spokesperson, Fabian Williams said they did not want to speculate around the incident.
“This is an ongoing SAPS investigation, and the Atlantis CPF wishes to refrain from making any speculative comments. Atlantis CPF is deeply concerned about the mass shooting incident that occurred in the precinct. It is disturbing to see the tragic loss of lives and this level of brutality,” said Williams.
Urging SAPS to leave no stone unturned in their investigation of the matter, Williams also called on the community to be vigilant and to come forward with any information that could assist.
The Western Cape Community Police Board (WCCPB) spokesperson, Rafique Foflonker, said: “The level of brutality and number of victims in that particular single incident is very alarming. What we know is that these individuals ranging in age from 18 to 30 were coming home or travelling back from a beach location and then ambushed in the Mamre area. The provincial board is urging the community to work in partnership with the police as they investigate this incident.”
Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Anroux Marais said the Mamre community was “experiencing a deeply worrying upsurge in violence”.
“I have instructed Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) Rapid Response Unit members to be deployed and stationed in Atlantis to assist in restoring law and order. I want to urge members of the public who may have any information on this incident and other crimes, to assist us and the police,” said Marais.
The Western Cape, like its neighbouring Eastern Cape has recorded a number of mass shootings resulting in the killing of three people or more in the past weeks.
The latest incident where gunmen opened fire at a group sitting in a yard in Seine Street, Delft, also left a 14-year-old boy wounded.
Anyone with information about these incidents can anonymously contact Crime Stop on 0860 010111 or use the MySaps app.
Cape Times