Residents say a one-year-old baby from Hanover Park is lucky to be alive after he was caught in a shoot-out between Metro Police and a gunman on Tuesday.
The dramatic scene saw angry residents surround the officers and threaten to moer them for “recklessly” firing at a gunman known as Dakota while apparently not caring who was in the vicinity.
A mother, who asked not to be named, says they had to duck and dive as a hail of bullets were fired during the chase.
“I just came from dropping my child at school when the skote went off and I ran to hide between the taxis,” she says.
“Then I saw Metro Police and the people were kwaad because they shot that guy known as a Dakota, he is not even a gangster.
“When they came, they (officers) fired skote in the air because the mense were angry and ran away. Then they called in all the Metro cops into Hanover Park.”
Eyewitness Natasha Williams says she watched as cops opened fire on Dakota as he ran through Solent Court.
“They came running skiet skiet and that is when the bullet went past the baby’s head and got him skrams.
“He is only one year and six months old. What if he had died? They are reckless,” Williams added.
A source close to the investigation says CCTV footage of the incident corroborated Williams’ version of the events.
“On the footage you can see what happened. At the scene, there were cartridges in Solent Court where they (officers) ran after him because he had a gun and shot at him.
“When he got here to the scrapyard, he couldn’t run anymore and he fired a shot hitting the Metro guy in the leg and Metro then shot back and he (Dakota) fell.”
Mayco member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, says the City is working with SAPS to investigate the incident.
“Information at our disposal is that Metro Police officers were on patrol in the area just before 8am when they heard shots fired.
“Community members pointed them in the direction of the incident, where they found an unknown man who had been shot and wounded.
“Officers were given a description of the shooter, and set off – they found him nearby, but he opened fire on them, wounding one of the officers in the foot. The officer returned fire, and wounded the suspect.”
He says the gunman was detained and officers recovered a 9mm firearm with 10 hollowpoint rounds of ammunition.
Metro Police spokesperson Ruth Solomons claims the baby’s injury was caused by “debris”.
“According to SAPS officers, they observed scrapes to the baby’s face, possibly caused by ricocheting debris. They did not observe swelling or any other injuries.”