A HIGH school student was shot dead and three others raped when a gang of gunmen attacked a group of students studying for exams at a school in KwaZulu-Natal. Police spokesman Captain Vishnu Naidoo said Themba Mlambo, 18, was killed and two fellow pupils were wounded when three gunmen opened fire on about 30 pupils in a classroom at Odumo High School near the rural town of Mandini on Monday night. Three girls, aged between 18 and 20, were raped by the gunmen, Naidoo said. Naidoo said the motive for the attack appeared to be robbery: “They stole Mlambo’s jacket”. Three men were later arrested in the area in connection with the attack. The jacket and two firearms were found in their possession. Violence frequently spills over into crime-ridden South Africa’s schoolyards.