A police officer and two alleged car thieves were wounded in a shoot-out on the M1 highway in Newtown in Johannesburg on Thursday night, said paramedics.
The southbound M1 was closed from the Smit street off-ramp after the 9pm shooting, said ER24 spokesperson Werner Vermaak.
”Paramedics from all over were dispatched to the M1 highway shortly after the suspects were apprehended,” said Vermaak.
He said paramedics were told at the scene that a black Audi had been stolen at the Cresta shopping centre north of the city earlier in the evening and a tracking company and the police traced the vehicle to the highway.
He said it was not clear how the shoot-out occurred.
”As paramedics treated the injured cop — believed to be in his forties — three male suspects were lying next to the alleged stolen vehicle.
”One of the suspects sustained a gunshot to the right upper leg with a fracture. Another sustained a minor gunshot wound to his lower body and was also treated on [the] scene.
”The third suspect was uninjured and taken into police custody on [the] scene,” Vermaak said.
The wounded suspects were taken to hospital where they will be under police guard.
The wounded policeman was taken to Milpark hospital.
”Considering what had happened, the policeman is lucky to have sustained only minor injuries and no passing occupants of other vehicles were injured,” said Vermaak. – Sapa