Gunmen chase minibus into PE police station

An unknown number of gunmen chased a minibus taxi into a Port Elizabeth police station while shooting at the vehicle on Tuesday night.

According to police, the minibus initially came under fire in Ndebele Street in Soweto-on-Sea while offloading passengers at about 10pm.

During the shooting, the minibus and tyres were shot several times.

Police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge said within seconds of offloading passengers, the vehicle came under fire, prompting the driver to head for the Zwide police station.

"The occupants do not know how many attackers there were. It is also unknown if the attackers were in a car or on foot."

As the shots rang out, the taxi driver sped off not knowing where the shots were coming from.

"The taxi sped to the police station and pulled into the police station parking lot. Seven occupants, including the driver, ran inside for help."

Beetge said that one passenger, a 58-year-old woman, had been shot in the leg.

"The police inside the community service centre were calling for an ambulance when shots were fired inside the police station car park," he said.

"It appears that the gunmen had followed the minibus.

The police officers reacted and shot out the lights inside the police station thinking that the attackers were preparing to storm the station.

"The officers then took up tactical positions covering the entrance waiting for the attackers to come inside.”

Beetge said the light switches were on the opposite side of the counter which is why the officials shot out the lights.

Within minutes of the police shooting out the lights, the gunmen fled.

"Zwide is a satellite police station and the members called for backup from all vehicles in the area. When additional resources arrived, the gunmen were gone," Beetge said.

"The exact number of shots fired inside the police station car park are unknown but we can confirm that several shots had been fired.

"It appears that some bullets hit the police station wall but their main target seemed to be the minibus.

"The injured woman was taken to hospital.

Asked about the motive or who the men were targeting, Beetge said it was unknown and subject to investigation.

Motherwell cluster commander Major General Dawie Rabie said he had ordered a team of detectives from the Provincial Organised Crime Investigation Unit to run with this case, adding that all leads are being followed up.

Seven cases of attempted murder are being investigated.