The serenity of Helderkruin, a quaint suburb in Roodepoort, was disturbed on Friday when a motorist was targeted in a shooting incident outside of a mosque.
UPDATE: The victim of the mosque shooting is currently in stable condition and recovering in hospital, sources confirm. The motive of the failed assassination remains the subject of an ongoing investigation.
Roodepoort mosque shooting: Here’s what we know
An unsettling wave of worry has washed over the Gauteng suburb after a motorist driving a white BMW coupe was ambushed. Details about the incident were still sketchy when this article was published.
However, reports fluttering online suggest the driver, a Muslim worshipper, was headed out of a mosque on Friday morning, when an unidentified vehicle pulled up beside him and released a hail of bullets, striking the BMW multiple times.
The gory images of the shooting show that the targeted vehicle was struck on the passenger side, with bullets penetrating the back windscreen and the rear end of the driver’s side.
Local law enforcement officials were at the scene scouring the area for shell casings and interviewing witnesses when this article was published.
The motive behind the shooting is also unclear at this time.
This is the second violent incident to rock Roodepoort this week.
On Tuesday, 21 November 2023, Leroy “Finch” Brown, the suspected Varados gang leader, was brutally killed outside a popular fitness centre in Roodepoort, west of Johannesburg, on Tuesday afternoon.
Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi confirmed the incident without revealing the victim’s identity. However, sources identified the victim as Brown.
While tensions have been palpable since the death of Finch, Friday’s Roodepoort mosque shooting has, at this time, been treated as an unrelated case.
This is a developing story.