A seven-year-old girl is lucky to be alive after being struck in the head by a bullet as gang violence erupted in Manenberg over the weekend.
Jalyn Ely is recovering in Red Cross Children’s
Hospital after being caught in the crossfire of rival gangs while playing outside her Renoster Road home on Saturday.
Mom Ashlin, 27, says the Grade 2 learner from Rio Grande Primary School was playing hopscotch with her friends when the shooting started shortly after 9am.
“We were inside the house and they were playing hokkies when the shooting started,” Ashlin says.
Jalyn Ely
“She was rushed to Heideveld Emergency Hospital and later to Red Cross. Initially they thought the bullet was stuck because they could not see where it went out, but after an X-ray, they found that the bullet went under the skin and out.
“She is fine now and talking,” the worried mother adds.
Acting Manenberg police station commander, Colonel Sanele Zama, confirms the incident and says detectives are now investigating an attempted murder charge.
He explains sporadic shootings were reported a day earlier and the reason for the conflict between local gangs is unclear at this stage.
On Friday the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) and the Metro Police’s Gang and Drugs Task Team (GDTT) were called in to stabilise the area amid ongoing shootings.
Daily Voice accompanied GDTT earlier in the evening as they executed search warrants in Delft, but this was called off to assist officers in Manenberg.
Shortly after arriving, they received a tip-off about a gun being stored in Erika Court and found an 18-year-old boy in possession of a home-made rifle in his room.
CONFISCATED: Home-made wooden rifle in Erika Court
Officers found the wooden handle taped to the barrel of an air rifle.
The teen did not want to reveal where he got the firearm, and was taken to Manenberg Police Station.
However, cops could not press charges as the firing pin had been removed and the home-made weapon did not fall within the scope of a firearm.
Zama urged residents to start piemping the shooters to prevent innocent children being shot: “The silence of the community is a sad situation. Gangs can only be uprooted through the positive mobilisation against
violence.”
GUN POSSESSION: 18-year-old arrested
He says no arrests have been made yet.
Anyone with information is asked to call Manenberg police on 021 699 9400.