Tlokweng Payless heist goes awry
Kgomotso Molelekeng | Tuesday March 25, 2014 15:12
According to an eyewitness report, the men looked a bit inexperienced and panicky while in the middle of the heist.
“They kept shouting at the teller to give them money or else they would kill all of us,” he said.
The witness told Mmegi that the men were shaking, but immediately after getting the money they disappeared and they could not trace which way the robbers went.
“I was at home when I heard a loud noise. It sounded like a gunshot and this is not the first time I have heard this sound.
“Days back I witnessed another crime where a man came with a gun to a filling station and started shooting. He later drove away with some cash. We are no longer safe in our homes and we fear for our lives,” said Gogontle Batu, a resident.
Batu added that since the nation has experienced the acute power cuts, crime in Tlokweng has increased. Her neighbour got robbed recently.
Meanwhile, Tlokweng Police have arrested a 23 year-old man in connection with the armed robbery at Payless Supermarket. The suspect and two others are all believed to be Zimbabweans.
Botswana Police Service spokesperson, Dipheko Motube said the incident occurred in the evening. He said that one of the suspects shot himself while the police were in pursuit. “The three men were not driving so they managed to run to a different locations before the other one shot himself. He was later certified dead at the hospital,” he said.
He said the third suspect escaped during the incident but the police managed to recover a handgun that was allegedly used in the robbery as well as the money supposedly stolen from the supermarket.
While in pursuit, Motube said a passerby was hit and injured by a stray bullet.
The police attempted to arrest the three fleeing suspects for fraudulently transferring money at a bank in Kanye the same afternoon. The bullet hit a 20 year-old woman when police fired warning shots to stop the alleged suspects.
“The victim is at Princess Marina Hospital. One suspect was arrested and remains in custody whilst two others escaped,” he said.