A six-year-old Manenberg boy is recovering in Red Cross Hospital after he was shot during a gang shootout on Monday night amid peace talks.
Manenberg Police Station commander, Brigadier Enolium Joseph, says gunshots rang out shortly after 7pm as members of the Hard Livings and Fancy Boys gangs met for talks.
CONFIRM: Joseph
According to a source a dispute has been dragging on for weeks and the “Hard Livings wanted to resolve the matter, but the Fancy Boys refused.”
Joseph says both gangs met in Towerkop Road on Monday where one man was killed, one injured and the boy injured when skollies started shooting.
“Manenberg police officers responded to a shooting incident in Towerkop Road where it is alleged that two opposing gangs tried to sort out their differences when all hell broke loose,” says Joseph.
“Shooting erupted amid the peace talks. Unidentified males opened fire randomly on the unsuspecting group of males and a 28-year-old man was hit in the head and was declared dead at hospital.
“A 25-year-old man was shot in the chest and received medical treatment while a six-year-old boy, who was playing in the road close to where the peace talks took place, was hit by shrapnel in his left arm.”
He says the suspects fled the scene and no arrests have yet been made. The boy’s family could not be reached yesterday.
The source says the dead man and his injured friend are both Fancy Boys.
Joseph says additional forces have been sent to the area to curb gang violence.