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A suspected member of a syndicate stealing car parts at a police station near Mthatha has been killed in a shootout with police.
Lieutenant Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela says the incident happened at 13 Camp on Tuesday night, where recovered vehicles are kept at the Ngqeleni police station near Mthatha.
Fatyela says police waited for the suspects who arrived and started fiddling with the vehicles in the yard.
When they saw the police, they started shooting and the police returned fire.
One of the three men died of gunshot wounds. Two managed to escape.
Fatyela said the men were believed to be part of a syndicate that had been stripping vehicles at the police station.
He said they'd managed to arrest a police officer in June who had been colluding with the syndicate and that the investigations continue.
