An innocent man from Leonsdale was gunned down just metres from his home on Sunday after he was apparently mistaken for a gangster.
Angry residents say Shawn Petersen, 30, who was known to skarrel for scrap metal, is the latest casualty in the ongoing gang battles in Leonsdale.
His heartbroken family say they are still in shock after hearing that gangsters shot him in the head for no reason and left him to die in Tiara Way.
Sister Felicity-Anne Malloy, 51, says her home has been flooded with residents who have expressed their shock at the
tragedy.
“It was at about 8.20pm when someone came to tell us,” she says.
“Shawn went to the Bismillah shop and I assume he didn’t get what he wanted because he walked to the shop in Tiara Way and that is where they shot him.
“My daughter, Melba, went to go look because I couldn’t
handle it.
“He was shot in the head and he died there in the street. The blood is still there.”
Police spokesperson, Siyabulela Malo, says Elsies River police was on the scene shortly before 9pm where they found Shawn in the street.
“Upon arrival they found the victim lying on the road with a gunshot wound on his upper body,” says the cop.
“The circumstances
surrounding this incident are being investigated with no arrests made so far.”
KILLED: Shawn Petersen, 30
According to residents, three rival gangs in the area have been fighting continually over drug turf.
“He [Shawn] lives in the turf of the Terribles and the Bad Boys and the Rebels are mos now fighting with them,” says a resident who asked not to be named.
“They just come over and shoot any man they see in the street.”
Felicity says the family is
devastated by Shawn’s death.
“He lived by me all the years and was a security guard but his contract came to an end and he skarrelled for scrap metal for an income,” she says.
“It is devastating for us to know he died like that because he is not a gangster.”
In July, another innocent man, Austin Majiet, 22, was killed in the crossfire of four rival gangs just metres from where Shawn was killed.