An armed robbery attempt was thwarted by Plumtree villagers who rushed to assist a shopkeeper at Kweneng Business centre on Tuesday after a man posing as a customer tried to rob her.
Matabeleland police spokesperson Inspector Loveness Mangena confirmed the incident and dismissed allegations that the incident might be linked to the recent case of school children who were shot in Empandeni.
“This person arrived at 8 pm. He took out a US$1 note saying he was hungry and wanted to buy a soft drink. The complainant went to open the shop, and he tried to push her inside, sensing danger the woman screamed attracting three people who were still outside the shops,” said Mangena.
“When interrogated, the suspect said he only wanted to buy a drink, he immediately left only to come back 40 minutes later and fired two shots in the direction of people who were still there, they ran away and hid in one of the homesteads close by. They locked themselves inside a house and he damaged four window panels,” said Inspector Mangena.
Speaking to CITE, the husband of the victim, Thakazelani Tshuma said he was away when his wife was almost robbed.
“She told me that they had already closed when this man came intending to buy a drink, she said she told him to go to the window while she went the other side to open the door, but the man followed her and tried to push her inside the shop, thus when the commotion started as she tried to push him away,” Tshuma narrated.
“My wife screamed attracting the attention of the people who were still at the nearby bar, they came running armed with stones trying to find out what was going on.”
Tshuma said when he got to the scene, his wife was shaken and the suspect denied all the allegations against him and claimed that the villagers wanted to assault him for no reason. j
He added that what scares him the most is the fact that he tried to reason with an armed robber.
“After trying to find out what was happening and him denying it, I took my wife home, only to be told by other villagers that the suspect was armed and he later came back and fired shots at them,” said Tshuma.
Inspector Mangena urged business owners to observe operating times and not entertain people who come after hours as they risk being robbed by criminals.
