Gauteng Commissioner of Police Perumal Naidoo has ordered his officers to ”turn the world upside down” to find the killers of a two-year-old girl in Johannesburg, said Superintendent Eugene Opperman. The baby was shot in the head during a robbery at a Corlett Gardens home in Lyndhurst on Thursday morning.
Opperman said Naidoo visited the crime scene and was so horrified and moved by the murder that he had ordered police to ”turn the world upside down” to ensure that the killers were caught.
He said that the police’s top management would become ”personally” involved in the case.
”The police commissioner goes to many crime scenes but this is one of those cases that are just more brutal because a child was killed. That is why the commissioner has also said that we [police management] would be personally involved in this case,” he said.
Opperman said the Gauteng investigating unit would also work closely with local detectives on the case.
The police have already combed the scene for evidence.
The four armed men gained entrance by breaking a palisade fence and burglar bars before smashing the lounge window.
They entered a bedroom and woke a woman and her child. When the child started crying, they shot her in the head then fled on foot with a video machine and three cellphones.
The baby and her mother were Nigerians visiting the country, according to 702 Talk Radio.
Opperman said the police were worried about the ”high rate” of house robberies in Gauteng.
”We are very concerned about this but many of these robberies happen because of negligence. Unfortunately this is a forced one but there are many instances where people leave doors and windows open at night and during the day, making it easier for people to gain entrance. We urge the public to be cautious.” – Sapa