Cape Town law enforcement authorities have increased visibility in the expansive eastern periphery after a jewellery store at Somerset Mall was targeted on Tuesday morning.
Somerset Mall robbery: What are the latest updates?
Things got intense in the quaint Boland suburb after at least five armed suspects, travelling in a white Audi A3, entered Somerset Mall and held up a jewellery outlet.
As reported by EWN, eyewitnesses alleged that the suspects held employees at gunpoint and took an undisclosed number of diamonds and other accessories.
Mall security was alerted and soon after sending a distress call to the police station situated about four kilometres away, they pounced on the fleeing suspects.
The brave mall security guards managed to catch one of the suspects, a 30-year-old male from Crossroads, a township that borders the notorious Nyanga East.
UPDATE: At least two suspects are still at large
The getaway vehicle made it onto the N2 highway but was quickly taled by a team of SAPS officials. Realising the fate of their actions, the suspects tried to abandon the Audi and disappear into the wilderness of a nearby informal settlement.
However, once again, police officers had the upperhand and it’s believed one suspect was killed in a shootout, while another surrendered and was placed under arrest.
The two remaining robbers were able to flee into the informal settlement and are still at large. In the vehicle, police recovered the stolen items.
However, what’s not clear at this stage, is the value of what was stolen from the jewellery store and whether everything was recovered.
The identities of the two suspects in the custody of police have yet to be revealed and Somerset Mall has been cordoned off for further investigation.
In an unrelated incident, in Bryanston, Johannesburg, authorities are in search of an unknown number of suspects who took down a jewellery store at Nicolway Centre, on Tuesday morning.