Port Elizabeth police have arrested a 20-year-old man following a shooting at a taxi rank near the Cleary Park shopping centre in the city's northern areas.
Police spokesperson, Colonel Pricilla Naidu says the incident happened on Friday afternoon when an alleged shooting between rival gangs sent shoppers and commuters running into the centre in order to escape injury.
Security officers that were busy servicing an ATM at the shopping centre thought that they were being attacked, and as one of them went down in combat position, he accidentally shot himself in his right upper leg.
He was taken to hospital for treatment, and a case of discharging a firearm in a municipal area was opened.
Colonel Naidu says at the same time, members from the K9-unit were patrolling near the shopping centre when they were stopped by a taxi, and they were informed that one of the shooters boarded a taxi which was behind them.
With the assistance of members from the Kabega Park Crime Prevention Unit, the taxi was pulled over in Norman Middleton Street, and a 20-year-old suspect was arrested.
A .38 revolver was found tucked in his pants.
He is being detained on charges of attempted murder and the illegal possession of a firearm, and will appear in court on Monday.
The firearm will be sent for ballistic analysis.
