Gang war fears

Murder of alleged Up Stand Dogs member could spark further reprisal attacks, cops say.

The cold-blooded murder of a suspected hitman and high-ranking member of the northern areas’ Up Stand Dogs has sparked fears that a full-scale gang war could erupt.

The suspected revenge attack in Uitenhage on Sunday night brings the gang violence death toll in Nelson Mandela Bay since the weekend to five and the total number of shootings to six.

Police are trying to establish whether the attacks are connected and if they are linked to the ongoing turf wars between gangs.

This has prompted the specialist gang unit to step up its investigations into alleged hits and revenge attacks involving gangsters.

Hilton Booysen, 24, who was in and out of court for a string of gang-related shootings, died in a hail of bullets at 10pm on Sunday while parked outside a tavern in Kamesh Road.

According to police, Booysen had been sitting in the driver’s seat of his car when he was shot nine times – three times in the chest and six times in the back – by an unknown number of attackers.

- Gareth Wilson