Lotus River party turns deadly: One man killed, four injured in shooting

THE Lotus River community was rocked by a mass shooting on Sunday morning where a 32-year-old man was killed and four others wounded.

Five men between the ages of 18 to 42 years sustained gunshot wounds while they were outside a block of flats in Nita Street.

According to an eyewitness who managed to escape the attack unscathed, the incident took place around 4:30am after a suspicious car drove past.

The man explained: “A car just drove past us and we took note of it, but we did not take it seriously because we were waiting for it to come back - obviously cars driving around that time of the night are suspicious.

“Two guys came back on foot and then they shot through the fence.”

The man explained that he managed to run away when the shots rang out.

Police spokesperson Wesley Twigg said a murder case and attempted murder cases were registered for investigation.

“Grassy Park police responded to a complaint of a shooting on Sunday morning, October 26, and upon arrival on the scene they found five males who sustained gunshot wounds to their bodies.

“A 32-year-old male was declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel, while the other victims between the ages of 18 and 42 were transported to a medical facility for treatment.

“The motive for the attack forms part of the police investigation. The suspects fled the scene and are yet to be arrested.”

Meanwhile, additional SAPS deployments, Law Enforcement and Metro Police are in the Grassy Park policing precinct conducting crime prevention initiatives to combat gang-related incidents.

Grassy Park Community Police Forum spokesperson Howard Downes said they could not confirm if the matter is gang-related.

“As the CPF we want the community to remain calm and divulge any information that they do receive on the ground to us and to SAPS so that we can deal with any information that can lead to the positive arrest of the perpetrators. The community should work with SAPS and not attack services when they get there.

“As the CPF, we are going to reach out to the families of the victims and support them any which way we can."

Police are appealing to anyone with any information about on the shooting to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the mobile application MySAPS anonymously.