Police in the Eastern Cape have opened an inquest docket following the fatal shooting of an off-duty police official by members of the Tactical Response Team (TRT) in Mqanduli on Sunday afternoon.
Spokesperson Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli says members of the Mthatha TRT responded and operationalised intelligence information about armed suspects in the area.
"The suspects were traced and located at the bottle store in Dobe location, Mqanduli. It is further alleged that when the suspects spotted the police, they started running in different directions, but one suspect who was at the entrance of the bottle store opened fire", he said.
Nkohli said police retaliated by returning fire.
"A 42-year-old suspect was fatally wounded, while other suspects managed to flee. An unlicensed revolver was recovered. A preliminary investigation has revealed that the recovered firearm was stolen in Hillbrow in 2021", he said.
On further investigation, it transpired that the deceased suspect was an off-duty police Sergeant stationed at Madeira SAPS in the OR Tambo District.
