Four burglars chose the wrong house to break into in Crossroads on the outskirts of Cape Town on Thursday night after the owner overpowered one of the men, who ended up being accidentally shot dead by one of his accomplices.
“The owner of the house was asleep when at about 1am he heard footsteps inside the kitchen. When he went to check he saw an unknown armed man whom he fought with. When the owner of the house overpowered the suspect the culprit called for help and three other suspects appeared,” police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said in a statement on Friday.
One of the suspects fired at the owner during the scuffle but accidentally shot his accomplice, who died at the scene.
“Two other suspects were also shot during the struggle and one was unharmed. Two are detained in Nyanga and one is under police guard in hospital,” he added.
Two firearms were confiscated.
“One belonged to the suspect who was mistakenly shot by his friend and a second one apparently fell from another suspect. These firearms will be sent for ballistics tests,” said Van Wyk.
The three suspects who survived the encounter with the home owner are expected to appear in the the Athlone Magistrate’s court on Tuesday December 3 on charges of murder, armed robbery and possession of illegal firearms.
– African News Agency (ANA)
