MANZINI – At least two people were confirmed by the police to have been shot in broad daylight at the Manzini Bus Rank by an unknown man yesterday afternoon.
The shooting happened just after 4pm near the Manzini Bus Rank public toilets. According to witnesses, some vendors had to duck and take cover as the sound of gunshots reverberated in the air. The reason behind the unknown man reportedly firing two shots, which injured people, according to witnesses who were at the bus rank, is yet to be known as there are a number of narrations shared by witnesses. Some witnesses claimed the shooting happened after a group of bus rank workers, approximated to be about eight, approached a man who was seemingly travelling with his partner.
Approached
It was claimed the bus rank workers approached the man, following that the woman he was travelling with was supposedly crying and dirty following a purported assault. The witnesses claimed that as the bus rank workers came closer to the man, near the Manzini Bus Rank public toilets, one of them noticed that the man was seemingly carrying a pistol. Some of the witnesses claimed that a debate among the bus rank workers ensued as they argued on whether it was a pistol or a toy gun. As they approached him, the man reportedly bought a cigarette from one of the vendors and started to puff away. However, as the bus rank workers reportedly came closer to him, he was said to have fired two shots, which, according to the witnesses, reportedly injured three people. It was claimed the people who were shot were not part of the group that was approaching him.
According to the witnesses, one of the shot people was a minor, another female and the third person a bus rank worker. The injured individuals were said to have been going about their business of the day when the gunshots were fired. Meanwhile, another version relating to the shooting was that the man had been robbed of his money and in trying to defend himself; he had cocked the gun resulting in the shooting. On the other hand, it was said that after the people were injured, a group of people tried to apprehend the suspect; however, he fled the scene. While the suspect fled the scene, it was gathered that one of the public transport workers transported one of the people who was shot to the Releigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital, while two were transported by the police.
When this publication’s reporter arrived at the Manzini Bus Rank, some of the vendors were discussing how they were lucky to have been missed by the bullets. One of the vendors was said to have been sitting next to a female, who was shot in the knee. The vendor said when she heard the gunshot sound, she ducked and took cover. “I’m still too traumatised to talk about this as it happened right next to me,” she said. She said two people were shot in close proximity to her. One of them, the vendor said, was the female, while the other person was the bus rank worker. On the other hand, some public transport workers servicing the Manzini – Matsapha route were seen trying to clean the blood spatter on the tarmac near their workstation.
The pools of blood were trailing for a distance of about 15 metres (starting next to the entrance of the female side of the Manzini Bus Rank public toilets, to where buses servicing the Manzini – Matsapha route load passengers). Later on in the day, a group of police officers were reportedly searching for the suspect along the Mzimnene River and nearby thickets, which it was supposed he could have used to take cover.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the shooting. She said police officers were investigating the shooting and further said at the time, in their reports, they had two shot people. Vilakati said a female was shot in her foot while a male was shot in his buttocks. When quizzed about the minor following that accounts by some eyewitnesses insinuated that two people were taken to hospital by police officers, while another was driven to the RFM hospital in a kombi; she said: “We’ve not yet gathered details on the minor but we are still investigating.”