A COP shot and killed his wife (40) before turning the gun on himself.
Their 19-year-old son, who the cop (45) also shot when he tried to intervene, is fighting for his life in hospital.
This tragic incident has left the residents where the married couple lived in Illovo, south of Durban, in great shock. It's alleged that the wife was filing for divorce, and the couple was already in separation as the husband had moved out of the house.
According to a neighbour, it was just after 12am on Monday, 15 April, when they heard gunshots coming from the couple's home.
"We went out and found that the husband had shot his wife and himself. He also shot their 19-year-old son. The son was trying to intervene, and the husband shot him," she said.
She said the couple had problems for some time because the husband had left and was renting somewhere.
"He used to visit the children and then leave. So, I think on Sunday, he argued with his wife, and things got out of hand. He shot their son because he tried to stop the fight. The son tried to go out and ask for help, and that was when he shot him. Fortunately, the son didn't die. He was rushed to hospital. The other child was in his bedroom when the incident happened," she said.
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She said the couple had arrived in the area a few years ago, and they were a family that didn't mingle a lot with other neighbours.
"They used to stay together in their house and when they went out, they used to go to areas outside of Illovo. So, we didn't know them very well. They lived with their two children and were always locked up in their house," she said.
KZN police spokesman Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed that cops have opened cases of murder, attempted murder and inquest following a shooting incident in which a man (45) allegedly shot and killed his wife (40), shot and injured his son (19) before turning the gun on himself in Illovo in the early hours of Monday morning.
"When police arrived at the crime scene on Thokozani Nene Road, the two bodies were found lying on the floor and were declared dead at the scene. The motive of the shooting is unknown at this stage," he said.
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