Niël Terblanché
A gang of armed robbers killed a security guard and wounded another during a cash-in-transit robbery at the Platz Am Meer shopping mall in Swakopmund on Monday.
Eyewitnesses on the ground level of the centre’s parking structure said a group of four or five men suddenly appeared as if out of nowhere at the cash-in-transit van while the security officers were busy loading boxes filled with money into it.
A bystander said that all the robbers were armed with pistols or revolvers and that they were threatening to shoot the security guards.
Some of the robbers held the guards up by pointing firearms in their faces while the others started grabbing cash boxes from the back of the armoured vehicle.
The driver of the armoured vehicle got out of the vehicle and started firing at the robbers. One of the robbers shot him in the head. All the robbers started firing their weapons and, in the process, the second guard received a gunshot wound to the back of his neck.
The third guard did not sustain any gunshot wounds.
Members of the Namibian Police along with ambulances rushed to the scene of the fatal shooting, where a large crowd of people had gathered.
Paramedics stabilised the wounded guard on the scene before he was taken to one of the hospitals in Swakopmund. His medical condition is reported to be critical.
The eyewitness said that none of the robbers were killed or wounded during the fatal shootout.
According to Chief Inspector Ileni Shapumba, the head of the community affairs division of the Namibian Police in the Erongo region, the gang of robbers jumped into a silver seven-seater with a falsified registration plate to make their getaway.
In the confusion that followed the sudden violent exchange in the parking structure of the mall, the gang were able to disappear by using the general public to cover their tracks.
Shapumba said that more information could not be made available because of the sensitivity of the matter.
“An attack occurred and a person’s life has been lost in this process. The robbers got away and disappeared among the community,” Shapumba said.
He called on members of the public who could provide information about the possible whereabouts of the robbery gang to urgently contact detectives working on the case at the following numbers: +264 81 246 4757 or +264 81 321 4978 or +264 81 413 7105.