On Monday, Police Minister Bheki Cele landed in the Eastern Cape to attend a high-level law enforcement briefing on the deadly Gqeberha mass shooting that claimed eight lives.
Gqeberha mass shooting: Eight murdered in house party attack
As reported by News24, police and emergency medics responded to an active shooting on a property in KwaZakhele, Gqeberha, on Sunday early evening.
In a statement to the cited publication, Gqeberha police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu revealed that the incident took place on Makanda Street, somewhere between 17:15 and 17:30.
From what’s known so far, the homeowner of the property was hosting a birthday house party when at least two armed men entered the yard and carelessly sprayed bullets at partygoers.
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Seven victims, including three women and four men, were declared dead on the scene, while another victim was rushed to hospital for life-saving treatment.
However, by then, nothing could be done to save the victim’s life.
“One of the victims succumbed to their injuries in hospital, bringing the total number of deceased to eight. The owner of the house was among the deceased,” Col. Naidu said.
Four other partygoers — two women and two men — survived the Gqeberha mass shooting with non-life-threatening injuries and were, at the time this article was published, receiving treatment in a hospital.
From what we understand, a province-wide manhunt has been launched to determine the identities of the suspects who brazenly killed eight people in broad daylight.
It remains unknown what the motive behind the mass murders is, at this juncture.
Eastern Cape police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nomthetheleli Mene has since called on every prominent homicide detective and specialised law enforcement unit to centralise all resources behind the Gqeberha mass shooting.
“These victims were killed by criminals, and we will not rest until we find out what happened and who was responsible for [this] callous and cold-blooded attack on these unsuspecting victims,” Lt-Gen. Mene said.
Minister Cele had not addressed the media at the time this article was published.
It is also presumed that the suspects behind the mass murders are still at large.
This is a developing story.
