Durban — A suspect has been arrested for the attempted murder of a police officer and house robbery following an incident in September 2022.
Hawks KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Simphiwe Mhlongo said that on Sunday, August 13, 2023, Hawks members from Durban Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit, working together with Crime Intelligence, Crime Prevention and National Intervention Unit, arrested a 31-year-old suspect for attempted murder and house robbery.
He said that members conducted a joint operation in the Maphumulo area, searching for the wanted suspect who was believed to be involved in the attempted murder and house robbery.
“It is alleged that on September 3, 2022, two suspects entered the residence of a police officer whilst he was asleep with his wife. The suspects demanded his firearm and fired shots at the police officer. The police officer returned fire, fatally wounding one suspect. The other suspect managed to escape, and the police officer was taken to hospital for medical attention,” Mhlongo said.
He said that a case of attempted murder, possession of unlicensed firearm and house robbery was reported at Nsuze police station, and the case docket was allocated to Hawks members for further investigation.
“He is expected to appear in the Maphumulo Magistrate’s Court tomorrow (Tuesday),” Mhlongo said.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated incident last month, Hawks KZN spokesperson Captain Bonnie Nxumalo said that Mandlenkosi Mzo Ntombela, 27, appeared in the uMlazi Magistrate’s Court in connection with the murder of a Durban metro police services officer in May.
Captain Zwelakhe Ntombela, 50, was shot and killed while he was arriving at his home in uMlazi on May 3. He was also robbed of his private and service pistols.
Nxumalo said that the suspect was arrested by the Hawks’ team in collaboration with the National Intervention Unit, KwaDukuza police, Mayville Visible Policing, and private security guards in the early hours of July 20 in the Msinga area, where he was hiding. The deceased’s firearms were recovered from the suspect’s homestead at KwaMaphumulo.
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