A taxi boss has piemped his own driver for being behind the murder of a City of Cape Town traffic cop who was shot in his patrol car in Kensington on Wednesday.
The 49-year-old officer Walton van Rooyen was found in Acre Road at about 8am with a bullet wound in the stomach after arresting the driver for a traffic violation.
Police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut says the officer was shot by the taxi driver he had arrested on the corner of 5th Avenue and Voortrekker Road and was killed in his patrol car while en route to Kensington Police Station.
A large contingent of police descended on Acre Road as the City’s Safety and Security Investigations Unit (SSIU) and Metro Police went on the hunt for the suspect.
Officer Van Rooyen was shot while busting driver in Acre Road Kensington
According to a source close to the investigation, the officer had registered the offence and arrest on his hand-held device, which led the team of investigators straight to the taxi boss.
“It showed the last entry he had made before he was shot and the team went to the taxi owner, who is from Atlantis.
“The taxi owner told the team that his driver had shot the officer and he knew this because the driver called him and told him shortly after the shooting,” the source says.
Traut initially said four suspects were arrested by Metro Police, but later the City revealed only one person had been charged with Van Rooyen’s murder.
Mayco Member for Safety and Security JP Smith says they are shocked, saddened and angered by the senseless murder of a traffic officer.
“Details of the incident are still emerging and preliminary information indicates the officer had pulled over a taxi when the driver attacked him,” Smith says.
WARNING: City’s JP Smith
An angry Smith says the traffic cops will now intensify taxi operations.
“We will be taking an aggressive approach and clamp down on taxi drivers breaking the law.
“When they hurt one of ours, we will make sure the pain is felt.
“Law Enforcement on all levels is a tough and dangerous job, but we must do all we can to dissuade attacks.
“It can’t just be that our officers are murdered and it’s business as usual.
“There are men and women of character willing to serve selflessly so we can live and go about our daily business securely.
“We owe them the support and services they need to do their jobs safely,” he explains.
SENSELESS KILLING: