The law enforcement team tasked with cracking the infamous Philippi East house ambush has moved a step closer to closing the case after two more suspects were arrested recently.
Philippi East ambush: Was it a planned attack or a random shooting?
Tuesday 30 June 2020 will go down as one of the bloodiest days in Philippi East, a crime-ridden township situated on the outskirts of the Cape Flats.
On this day, police reported six murders that occurred in the township, one of which involved a house in Block 4 that was allegedly raided by seven armed suspects.
According to police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa, five men were killed in a hail of bullets in what was, at first, described as a targeted attack.
However, in a statement published by police on Saturday, it is noted that “seven suspects are alleged to have stormed a house in Block 4 in Phillipi East and fired shots randomly at the occupants.”
What we know about the suspects involved in the ambush
Thanks to the stellar work conducted by the appointed task team, five of the suspects believed to be involved in this heinous crime have been placed behind bars.
The first arrests were made between Monday 6 July and Thursday 9 July, where three male suspects aged between 18 and 20 years old were tracked down in Delft.
“The efforts of the provincial integrated team deployed in Phillipi East to quell incidents of violent crime have paid off with the arrest of two more teenagers in Khayelitsha last night for the murder of five young men in Phillipi East on 30 June 2020.
“The team followed vital information to the Nkanini informal settlement where they found the two suspects both 19 years of age hiding in a house. They were subsequently arrested on murder charges,” Brigadier Potelwa revealed.
Two more suspects remain at large but with the information Philippi East authorities are working with, they are confident that the fugitives will be tracked down and caught soon.
The two suspects arrested in Khayelitsha are due to appear in court on Monday 13 July 2020.
