/ 3 March 2002

SHOOTOUT IN SAUER STREET

TWO people, including a police inspector, were injured when about 10 armed men shot at them during an attempted bank robbery in central Johannesburg on Wednesday, police said. Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini said about eight to 10 armed men entered a First National Bank building at the corner of Sauer and President streets around 3.00pm, held up staff and a security guard. ”They demanded money,” he said. The robbers fired shots when the police arrived on the scene. A woman police inspector attached to the Johannesburg Central Crime Prevention Unit was hit in the back. And a 35-year-old man from Diepkloof, Soweto, was shot in the ankle outside the bank. The two were taken to hospitals around Johannesburg, said Dlamini. Two suspects were arrested in connection with the incident, and two 9mm pistols were confiscated. Once inside the bank, one armed man undressed the security guard and took his uniform, he said. – Sapa