Top cop Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear from the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) has been killed outside his home in Bishop Lavis this afternoon.
While Western Cape police have yet to confirm the incident, several sources have told the Daily Voice that Kinnear was shot while arriving at his home in Gearing Road.
“He just arrived home and was turning into his driveway when a gunman on foot approached the window and opened fire on him.
"He was shot at close range. At this stage we are unsure if this was a gang hit but he had received lots of threats from various people," one source says.
Pictures taken at the scene show the top cop slumped behind the wheel of his white Toyota Corolla.
Kinnear, who is an area commander for AGU, recently secured a guilty conviction for two alleged members of The Firm gang who were accused of killing police reservist Gregory Carelse, 56.
Carelse was shot and killed near his home in Bishop Lavis in 2018 in what was believed to be a gang hit to silence him as he was a state witness in a murder trial.
Kinnear was recently involved in several high-profile investigations including the extortion case involving nightclub security boss Nafiz Modack, as well as the murder of top criminal lawyer Pete Mihalik.
In January this year his wife, Nicolette, spoke to the Cape Argus saying she was worried for her family's safety after police protection had been withdrawn from their home.
Just three months earlier, cops arrested a suspect armed with a hand grenade outside his home.
Update
Police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa says on Friday evening said crime scene experts were combing the scene and the Hawks are investigating the murder.
“Western Cape police are still reeling in shock following the murder of a 52 year old Anti Gang Unit investigator,” Potelwas says.
“Preliminary reports indicate that he was found in his vehicle shot several times in the upper body at 3:20pm. He was shortly thereafter declared dead by paramedics. The vehicle was a few metres from the deceased’s home in Bishop Lavis.”
Kinnear had over 30 years of experience as a police officer.