The four armed men who killed a bank security guard during a cash heist in Johannesburg on Thursday morning were still at large by mid-afternoon, police reported.
Superintendent Chris Wilken said police had deployed a helicopter as well as a search team of about 10 men, but they had a difficult task as the robbers had probably switched to a different car soon after the heist.
The four men pulled up at a traffic light in Beyers Naude Drive near Montgomery Park beside an unmarked car delivering a cash consignment from Standard Bank. They jumped out and shot up the bank vehicle with an AK-47, an R-5 and a 9mm pistol, said Wilken.
The driver of the bank vehicle was wounded, while the man next to him was killed. A woman clerk in the back seat was not injured. An undisclosed amount of cash, reportedly foreign currency, was stolen.
Thursday’s incident was the fourth in a spate of heists this week that began when a cash vehicle was forced off the road near Vereeniging on Monday.
Two security men were injured and a large amount of cash stolen, along with the security men’s firearms.
On Tuesday, a Coin Security vehicle was forced off the road in Kempton Park and six boxes of cash were stolen.
On Wednesday, armed robbers in Midrand stopped a Coin Security vehicle and stole several boxes of cash. They ordered the driver and a guard to lie down on the ground, then drove over the guard as they fled.
Early on Thursday morning, five would-be robbers were arrested when police stopped and searched two cars near Daveyton on the East Rand. A spokesperson said the police had proof that the men were on their way to a cash heist. – Sapa