Two mass shootings in South Africa leave 27 dead

Two mass shootings in South Africa leave 27 dead

Two separate mass shootings in South Africa on Saturday night and early Sunday left 27 people dead and scores injured, police and news agencies reported.

In the first attack, eight gunmen stormed a bar west of Johannesburg, killing 17 people and wounding 15, police told reporters. The victims included 13 men and four women, authorities said. Witnesses and police accounts said the attackers opened fire on customers sitting outside before moving inside the venue. The assailants reportedly torched two vehicles and then fled the scene. Punch reported the Johannesburg shooting occurred at about 1930 GMT.

Deputy provincial police commissioner Maj Gen Fred Kekana said the Johannesburg attack may have been retaliation for an incident last month in which one person was killed and another wounded, and that police had clear pictures and in some cases names for suspects, according to the BBC’s coverage of police comments. BBC

The second shooting happened in the early hours of Sunday outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town. Police said 10 people were killed and 11 others were injured. Five victims died at the scene and a further five later died in hospital, authorities said. BBC, Punch

No arrests had been made in either case on Sunday morning, police reported. Authorities had not indicated a motive for the attacks, and investigations were under way. BBC, Punch

The shootings come as South Africa continues to wrestle with high levels of lethal violence, including gang-related gun attacks. News reports noted the country records among the highest murder rates globally. The two mass shootings followed days after another attack in KwaMakhutha township in which 11 people were killed, the BBC reported. BBC, Punch

Officials said further details would be released as investigations progress.

Featured image: Vectorebus via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.