Son shot in drunken brawl with his dad

AN armed response officer described yesterday how, in an alcohol-fuelled struggle between a father and son in Nelson Mandela Bay, the younger man – bleeding from a gunshot – remained determined to continue the attack on his dad.

The bloody scene, which erupted in the family’s Beachview home in the middle of the night, was witnessed by the officer who had rushed there after Robert Rostoll, 65, shot his son, Jean-Pierre, who had allegedly attacked him in his bed after a day and night of heavy drinking.

What followed was a struggle by armed response officer Themba Kubashe to stop JeanPierre, 34, from continuing the attack on his dad after the son managed to get hold of a bag full of knives.

He was eventually disarmed by Kubashe. A wounded JeanPierre, who had been shot in the lower body, was allegedly still trying to attack his father when medics arrived, forcing them to restrain him.

According to police, Jean-Pierre arrived home shortly before 11pm on Tuesday after spending hours at the nearby Dizzy Dolphin pub in Seaview.

Officers who were on the scene, but declined to be named, said it was believed Jean-Pierre had started drinking in the morning.

“There was a heated argument earlier in the day and the son [allegedly] told the father that he was going to kill him that night.

“He then took off to go to the pub,” one officer said. “He [Rostoll snr] called his wife who was out of town and told her what had happened.

“Rostoll then decided to leave the front door unlocked to avoid a confrontation with Jean-Pierre when he got home.

“But when Jean-Pierre arrived home, he jumped on his father’s bed and [allegedly] started strangling him.”

The officers said that in the ensuing scuffle, Jean-Pierre pinned Rostoll snr against the wall while throttling him.

Rostoll snr was then thrown onto the bed and, as the struggle continued, he grabbed his gun from under his pillow and shot Jean-Pierre in the leg.

Nitrous Security armed response officer Kubashe, who was first to arrive at the house, described the scene as bloody and confusing.

Kubashe said he responded after getting a panicked phone call from Rostoll.

“All he said was come quick. I jumped in the car and sped off there and the control [room] then alerted me to a panic activation at the house.

“As I stopped, the father was standing outside and was covered in blood. His face was swollen and all he could say was that his son had been shot.

“At that stage, I thought it was a robbery and ran into the house. I found the son covered in blood lying in the main bedroom.

“He was very aggressive and crawling towards the doorway.”