Within hours of releasing images of top criminal attorney Advocate William Booth’s would-be assassins, cops have arrested seven suspects, including two women.
Late on Wednesday night, cops nabbed the group in Albert Road, Woodstock.
The bust comes after the investigating officer, Colonel Eddie Clark, made a public appeal for people to piemp the shooters who were caught on security cameras.
Booth was attacked in the garage of his home in Invermark Street in Higgovale on the morning of 9 April, when two suspects wearing masks approached the 65-year-old and fired several shots at him.
BREAKTHROUGH: Two of the seven suspects arrested for the botched hit on hotshot lawyer, William Booth
Booth was not injured, but the attack was caught on camera.
Upon further investigation, police found that three days prior to the attack, two of the suspects were captured by surveillance cameras being dropped off in a white Hyundai Credo SUV.
SAPS Colonel Andrè Traut: “The vehicle was not fitted with number plates in the front or on the rear, but had a temporary paper number with a GP registration attached to the rear window.
“One of the suspects was wearing an ostentatious ring on his right hand, and one was wearing Kappa branded clothing.”
On Wednesday afternoon, images of the suspects and the vehicle were released and by the evening, they were traced to a house in Woodstock.
SEIZED: Suspects were seen in a white Hyundai Credo SUV
Traut said on Thursday: “This office can confirm that five male and two female suspects were arrested (Wednesday) night in Woodstock following an appeal made by the investigating officer for information regarding an attempted murder case on April 9 2020.
“The vehicle used by the suspects at the time of the incident was also recovered and confiscated.”
Traut said it is not yet clear when the suspects will appear in court: “The suspects are currently being questioned by detectives and court appearances are yet to be scheduled.”
Booth has refused to comment on the motive behind the attack.
REFUSE TO COMMENT: William Booth
The murder attempt on Booth was the latest in a spate of attacks on the legal fraternity.
In November 2016, Advocate Noorudien Hassan was shot and killed while seated inside his car in front of his Lansdowne home.
In October 2018, Advocate Pete Mihalik, 50, was gunned down outside his children’s school in Green Point.
In December 2019, Advocate Vernon Jantjies was shot and killed outside his linen shop in Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain.