A 24-YEAR-OLD man was arrested today on a charge of attempted murder after a bullet grazed a 12-year-old girl's head in Kensington, Western Cape police said.
Officers worked around the clock to arrest the person allegedly responsible for the shooting in Glider Crescent at around 1pm on Sunday, Lt-Col Andre Traut said.
The suspect arrested in nearby Factreton in the early hours and will appear in court tomorrow.
The girl survived the shooting but was left with a wound on the side of her head.
“We are trying to piece everything together. We are simply appalled by this,” said Cheslyn Steenberg, secretary of the local Community Policing Forum.
“We condemn it with the highest order. This is one child too many. It was such a lovely day on Sunday, everybody was out enjoying the sun. And for this to happen - it was shocking.”
Not much is known about the shooting yet, except that the girl was hit in crossfire.
Steenberg said residents had been begging for more police resources in the area and Sunday's shooting proved them right. He said, however, even though they were strapped for resources, detectives had worked through the afternoon and night to track the shooter down.
Steenberg thanked police for arresting him so quickly and said the community had played a large part by helping with information. The swift arrest may go some way towards redeeming the province's efforts against gangsterism and illegal weapons after the police's top brass came in for a tongue-lashing in Parliament.
Last week Parliament's police portfolio committee criticised the department for submitting its anti-gang strategy report late, and the Hawks for not making a single arrest or confiscating any firearms for the period 1 April to 20 June, 2017 in Western Cape.
