Mother shot in attack on Hankey farm

A well-known Port Elizabeth businesswoman was shot by an intruder on a farm outside Hankey at the weekend while desperately trying to shield her three young children from the gunman. The woman, 44, bleeding and in pain, was then forced to drive her attacker to an ATM in the town, where she seized the chance to escape while he was withdrawing money from her bank account. Police spokeswoman Captain Gerda Swart said “a person of interest” had been taken in for questioning yesterday morning. The drama on the farm began shortly before midnight on Friday. “The [attacker] gained entry to the house after firing several shots through a glass door [at the house],” Swart said. The woman was shot in the lower body while trying to protect her three young children, who were not harmed physically. Her husband was not home at the time.

“The suspect took the woman in her vehicle to an ATM in town to withdraw cash. “While the suspect was busy withdrawing cash, the woman managed to drive off in her car to a farm in the area, [where she] alerted the police.” The man had not taken anything at the house, but withdrew an undisclosed sum of money. Swart said the woman was treated at a Port Elizabeth hospital and discharged yesterday. “The Hankey police are investigating a case of housebreaking with the intent to commit a crime, attempted murder and robbery aggravating.” She said further charges could be added after police had taken an official statement from the woman yesterday. She would not confirm the woman’s name until the charges were finalised, but it has since been established that she is a businesswoman who commutes between her Hankey home and her business in Port Elizabeth.