Alleged beggar snatches firearm from cop

Police had their hands full on 30 December when a man snatched a firearm from a Metro Police officer at the BP Oasis Garage on N1 Western Bypass at Beyer’s Naudé Drive.

South African Police provincial spokesperson Captain Tsekiso Mofokeng said the situation started at 2pm.

“The JMPD officer was withdrawing money from an ATM at the garage when the suspect approached him from behind and quickly snatched the firearm,” said Mofokeng. The suspect attempted to shoot at the officer, but the firearm did not go off.

“He then ran and tried to hijack a Nissan van, but the civilians in the car had a firearm. The suspect immediately ran away,” he said.

Back-up police were called to the scene and the suspect was cornered at the Monkor and Sashi Streets intersection in Linden.

The man, believed to be a beggar in the area, threatened to shoot the police, civilians and himself if anyone attempted to come close to him.

The streets had to be closed off while a hostage negotiator was summoned.

According to Mofokeng, during negotiation, the suspect demanded food and transport.

“The situation was getting out of hand so the task force was called to the scene. When negotiations failed, the suspect fired shots at the police, and police had to fire back. The suspect was injured on the upper body.”

The suspect was disarmed and arrested, and is currently in hospital under police guard.

BP garage manager Donavan Wagner said a situation like this has not happened before at the petrol station.

“We were shocked to see this, but the police did a good job because there were a lot of them who attended to the situation,” said Wagner.