Gunmen open fire on car killing child, man in Cato Ridge
A two-year-old girl and a man have been shot and killed in a hail of gunfire in Cato Ridge, near Pietermaritzburg.
KwaZulu-Natal police say the victims were two of eight occupants in an vehicle travelling along Nagle Dam Main Road on Tuesday.
SAPS spokesperson, Thembeka Mbele says they were driving over a bridge near the local clinic when three suspects entered the road.
"They fired several gunshot towards the vehicle. There was an exchange of gunfire. Two occupants in the vehicle, a two-year-old girl and as well as a 40-year-old man were fatally shot."
"The suspects fled the scene to the nearby bushes and the police are still at the scene. The K-9 [unit] is still searching for suspects in the area," she said.
Meanwhile, paramedics say when they arrived on the scene, they found the toddler and the man slumped in the Toyota Fortuner.
ER24 spokesperson, Russel Meiring says when paramedics arrived on the scene, they found the victims slumped in the vehicle.
Meiring says they showed no signs of life and were declared dead at the scene.
"A short time later, medics were informed that six other patients, that had been in the vehicle at the time of the shooting, had been transported privately to a nearby clinic.
"At the clinic, medics assessed the patients and found that a 3-year-old was in a critical condition, while five adults had sustained minor to moderate injuries."
"Once treated, the child was airlifted by the AMS Medical Helicopter to a nearby hospital while the five adults were transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital," he said.
