NOORDWESTER – ZEERUST - Two male suspects were expected to appear in the Zeerust Magistrate’s Court on 15 September, on two counts of murder, five of attempted murder and one of defeating the ends of justice.
The suspects, aged 29 and 33, were arrested and detained after they handed themselves over to the police. During the arrest, a 9mm pistol, a magazine and five rounds of ammunition were confiscated from the suspects.
It is alleged that whilst police were on patrol, they were alerted of a shooting incident at around 03:30 on Friday, 12 September. On arrival at the scene, two bodies of males were found with gunshot wounds inside a grey Ford Ranger on the R49 (Gaborone / Zeerust) road near Mokgola village. Three passengers in the Ford Ranger; two females and a male were seriously injured while the other two survived the attack. The motive is unknown at this stage, but the possibility of linking the incident to illegal mining in Mmasebudule village outside Zeerust, cannot be ruled out. Investigations into the matter continue.
In reacting to the incident, the Acting Provincial Commissioner of North West, Maj Gen Patrick Asaneng said: “The lawlessness and, particular the mishandling and illegal use of firearms by registered private security companies, has spiralled out of control and the police, working with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) will make sure that all rogue, non-compliant private security companies and individual officers are brought to book. It is unacceptable that those who have been authorised to legally possess firearms are generators and perpetrators of serious crimes.”
