Five killed in Lavender Hill shooting in South Africa — TimesLIVE

A mass shooting occurred in the Lavender Hill area of South Africa on Saturday evening, killing five people and injuring three others. Police are considering the possibility that the attack was linked to gang activity, TimesLIVE reports.

Father found his son's body in the yard

Among those killed was 31-year-old Keenan Nicholson. His father, Mark Nicholson, said that the day before he had warned his son to move around the area less because of gun violence. Keenan was due to leave in two weeks for a job in the electrical field, so friends had come to spend time with him in the backyard of the family home.

The shooting began shortly after 18:30, as Mark Nicholson was preparing for Sunday church service. He said that after being informed about the shooting, he ran outside and saw his son dead on top of two women: one of them had also died, while the other was fighting for her life. Nicholson said his son had been shot in the back and had likely been trying to flee.

He counted four dead people in the yard, while another victim was in the living room of the house. Despite what he had gone through, the man called the police and an ambulance.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Police announce reward

Western Cape provincial police commissioner Sizakele Dyantyi, together with police leadership, visited the crime scene on Blood Street in Lavender Hill. She said police had deployed resources to investigate the murders and attempted murders.

A reward of 100,000 rand was announced for information that helps arrest and convict those involved. Dyantyi also condemned an attack on police officers: law enforcement personnel from the Steenberg station who arrived at the shooting scene were pelted with stones.

Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety Anroux Marais called on police to intensify operations against known gangs, their leadership, and networks supplying illegal weapons and ammunition.