A three-year-old boy has been shot dead at a recreational centre in Westdene, Johannesburg police said on Tuesday.
Captain John Maluleke said a man accidentally shot dead the boy at the Sunbeam playground and crèche situated at Parklane and Fourth Avenue.
A 15-year-old school boy had been walking past a park when he was ”forcibly robbed” of his cellphone. The boy ran home and reported the incident to his father who then took his licensed firearm and went to look for the suspect.
”They spotted the suspect at the park near the creche and he began to run. They chased him and the father then shot him but accidentally hit the three-year-old boy in his upper body and he died on the spot,” Maluleke said.
He explained that police had already initially responded to the cellphone robbery when they came across the shooting incident.
The father had been charged with murder while the suspect was charged with robbery.
Both were detained at Sophiatown police station and were expected to appear at Randburg Magistrate’s Court soon.
The three-year-old boy was the son of a Pretoria police captain. The boy and his sister both attended the same cr̬che, Maluleke said. РSapa