Six armed robbers were on Saturday nabbed by police during a shootout in Bulawayo’s Fourwinds suburb, which killed one of them and injured two of the suspects.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident adding that the suspects were reported to have come from South Africa to carry out the act.
The robbers had targeted a house along Franklin drive in Fourwinds but were ambushed by police detectives resulting in a shootout that lasted for about 30 minutes, according to residents.
“We will release more information soon but it is correct we had one armed robber who was shot dead and two were injured when six armed robbers pounced on a house on Franklin Road in Fourwinds. It is alleged that some of the robbers came all the way from South Africa just to engage in a robbery case,” said Assistant Commissioner Nyathi.
Four firearms were recovered from the suspects.
When a CITE news crew visited the area in the morning, the police had cordoned off the area while visibly shaken residents were milling around.
“We were woken up by gunshots at around 6 am. The exchange of fire went on for about 30 minutes and we were terrified as we did not know what going on. Later we went out to investigate we saw police officers carrying the body of one of the suspects who had been shot dead,” said one resident.
Another resident said he was taking his morning walk when he saw armed men in a truck firing at one of the houses and someone inside was firing back.
“I suspect it was the police who had cornered some of the robbers and they engage in a serious exchange of fire,” he said.
Cases of armed robberies have been on the increase in the city with the robbers targeting individuals and companies in possession of huge sums of money.
