Two more shot dead in suspected gang violence

Gareth Wilson

TWO people were killed an hour apart in two separate gang-related shootings this week.

The latest shooting occurred in Gail Road in Helenvale – only a few hundred metres from the police station – at about 8pm on Monday leaving Cariston van Ross, 37, dead.

Van Ross was sitting inside a house with four friends when a lone gunman wearing a balaclava stormed inside and started shooting. "Five shots were fired, of which almost all hit [Van Ross]. The shooter ran off and the wounded man was declared dead at the scene," police spokesman Warrant Officer Alwin Labans said. "We suspect this attack was gang-related."

An hour before Van Ross was gunned down, suspected gangster Godfrey Francis, 48, was killed while driving in Bell Road, Gelvandale.

The passenger in the vehicle was Allistair "Ellie" Witbooi, the alleged leader of the Upstand Dog gang in Gelvandale. "Thirteen shots were fired at the bakkie and the bulk of them hit the driver," Labans said. "The passenger managed to jump out the car and escape unharmed."

This is the second attack on Witbooi.

In July, he was admitted to hospital after a gunman fired several shots into his vehicle when it stopped on the Stanford Road bridge.

Labans said the Gang Unit was investigating the possibility the attacks were connected.

Two murder cases and one of attempted murder are being investigated.