/ 19 June 2000

SCHOOL BOY HELD AFTER SHOOTING

A PRIMARY school boy is being held for questioning in connection with the shooting of a schoolmate at Pietersburg Comprehensive School in Northern Province. Lebogang Jeffrey Mamashela, 11, was gunned down and killed inside the school’s toilet at about 3pm. Provincial police spokesman Captain Ronel Otto said the boys were with others in the toilets when the incident happened. She said police were still trying to find what led to the shooting and how the suspect got hold of the firearm. She said Lebogang was shot once in the chest and died instantly. “After the shooting, the suspect ran out of the school and to his home a few blocks away,” she explained. The boy, a Grade 7 pupil, locked himself inside. Police confiscated a 9mm pistol, which will be taken for ballistic testing to prove if it was used in the shooting. Police have taken statements from other children.