Gunmen arrested in Joburg CBD

Johannesburg – Police have arrested a 55-year-old man for possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition after he threatened a security guard at a building in the CBD.

  Police spokesperson Captain Xoli Mbele said on Wednesday the man allegedly threatened a security guard with a gun at the Keten House building at corner Wanderers and Plein streets

  “The guard saw the man following him, and when he asked him what he wanted; the man pulled out a firearm and pointed it at him. He screamed for help and the community came to his rescue. Police were called from the street and they arrested the suspect. A firearm with live ammunition was recovered.  Preliminary investigations revealed that the firearm was reported stolen at the Johannesburg Central police station on 12 March 2020,” Mbele said. 

   Mbele said police also arrested three suspects for possession of unlicensed firearms. 

  “Two aged between 30 and 34 were arrested at the Wanderers taxi rank, and the third at the Park Station bus terminal. Police on routine crime-prevention duties searched passengers inside a taxi travelling to Harding in KwaZulu-Natal, and found two passengers in possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition. Another passenger was also found with an unlicensed firearm on a bus bound for Cape Town. Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects were once arrested for crimes ranging from attempted murder and possession of unlicensed firearms,” he said.

  Mbele added that the firearms would be sent for ballistic testing to determine whether they were used in committing violent crimes.