All hell broke loose at Standerton Hospital on Monday when two detained, guarded suspects managed to overpower and disarm a police officer before fleeing from the building and attempting to hijack an innocent bystander at the entrance to the hospital grounds at the gates after shooting him.

The whole drama started with the SAPS K9-unit of Ermelo following a stolen vehicle to Morgenzon’s township.  The local police were called in for assistance and when they arrived at the place where the suspects were reported to be, they discovered that they had left the scene.  A township resident pointed out the direction in which they had gone and the police followed went in search of them.

The police soon spotted the four suspects, who took off in different directions when they realized that the law was onto them.  The first suspect threw the keys of the stolen car away in the veldt and ran away.  The second suspect drew out a knife and attacked one of the police officers, who then drew his fire arm and shot the suspect in his lower hip. 

The other two suspects were on the run and police fired warning shots, to which they did not respond.  The one suspect, who ran into an informal settlement, reappeared with a piece of iron pipe and started attacking the officers.  Warning shots were once again ignored, resulting in the police having to shoot the suspect in the upper thigh.  Both wounded suspects were arrested and taken to Standerton Hospital for medical treatment and were put under police surveillance. 

During this time the third culprit on the run was hiding somewhere in the township and police were able to track him down and arrest him without any further incident.

In the meantime the Standerton K9-unit was also alerted and they continued the search for the suspects on the Secunda road.  As they pulled over next to the road to investigate a vehicle, another vehicle smashed into them from behind.  No one was injured in the mishap. 

Following the successful arrests, the bloodied clothing and car keys were handed in at the police station as evidence and a case of possession of a stolen vehicle was opened.

Police traced the owner of the vehicle through its registration number and found it to be a company car.  The company said that an employee had borrowed the car and that the driver had failed to return it. 

The driver was reported missing by his family in Primrose and his body was later identified by relatives in the Springs mortuary, after the Boksburg SAPS discovered the body of the deceased driver in Tsakane Township.   They confirmed that he had died from multiple stab wounds, after which a case of murder and hijacking was opened. 

The two suspects implicated in the shooting at Standerton Hospital are on the run and are armed and dangerous.  Police cannot release images of the suspects or their names yet, but can confirm that one of them has a limp.  They urge the public to call the police should they notice these persons, but stress that they should under no circumstances confront them.  GB