KWAZULU-NATAL — The KwaZulu-Natal police have launched an extensive manhunt for at least seven suspects following a deadly Greytown shootout that left a police colonel dead and another officer wounded. The fatal exchange of fire occurred late Thursday night after officers responded to an armed business robbery in the town center.
The incident began when a group of at least 10 armed suspects entered the Lucky Store in the Greytown city center. According to eyewitnesses, the robbers used firearms to intimidate the staff, ordering them to lie on the ground. The suspects then searched the premises for cash, utilizing a bedsheet or duvet to carry the stolen money. During the robbery, the shop owner was wounded and several workers were assaulted.
The suspects subsequently fled the scene in a Toyota Quantum minibus. The Greytown station commander, a female colonel whose name has been withheld out of respect for her family, took the lead in pursuing the fleeing robbers. Police, alongside private security firms, eventually caught up with the minibus on the R33 near the Banana area.
A fierce shootout ensued between the police and the suspects. During the exchange of fire, two suspects were killed and a third was wounded. However, the station commander was gunned down and killed, and another police officer was wounded and hospitalized. The surviving suspects abandoned the vehicle and fled into the surrounding mountainous terrain.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda confirmed the details of the incident and the ongoing pursuit. He stated that the police have deployed specialized resources, including dog units and drones, to track the suspects who escaped into the mountains.
Emphasizing the severity of the crime, Netshiunda declared that an attack on police officers is an attack on the state. He assured the public that the police will leave no stone unturned and will utilize every available resource to hunt down the remaining suspects.
The violent confrontation has left the local community living in fear. The crime scene at Banana was heavily cordoned off, with forensic teams and investigators working through the night and into the following morning. The heavy police presence and roadblocks disrupted local residents, with one community member reporting that he was forced to abandon his vehicle on the road and could not retrieve it until the scene was cleared the next day.
Investigations into the robbery and the subsequent shootout are ongoing as the manhunt continues.
