A 12-year old Port Elizabeth girl was fatally wounded when she was caught in crossfire between two rival gangs in Bloemendal in the city's northern areas on Saturday evening.
Police spokesperson, Col Pricilla Naidu says Alvineesha Brookes was walking in Buys Street at around 8.30 pm, when she sustained a gunshot wound to the head, in a shooting incident between the Carlitos and the Hondekoppe gangs.
She says the enraged community mobilised and marched to a suspected gang member's house in Bardien Street, but the person they were looking for was not at home and they started to assault two other men who were there.
"The men were stabbed and assaulted with stones. 25-year old Tavern Moss from Arcadia was dragged into the street and beaten to death. The other male, a 16-year-old is in a critical condition in hospital. This house was completely vandalised by the mob", Naidu said.
"The crowd then marched to another house in Bardien Street, also a suspected gang member's house, and a petrol bomb and stones were thrown at the house. Windows of the house and a car parked in the yard was damaged. The fire was immediately extinguished", she said.
Naidu says while police were in attendance and were controlling the situation, a police vehicle was damaged by the community.
She says warning shots were fired to prevent the community from causing further damage.
Col Naidu says no arrests have yet been made and police are investigating two cases of murder, attempted murder, malicious damage to property and malicious damage to a police vehicle.
