An investigation is underway to determine whether the recent shooting at the Kleinvlei Police Station is linked to gang activity.
The incident occurred just before midnight on Tuesday, 21 May, when unknown assailants opened fire on the station from a charcoal-coloured VW Polo. While no injuries were reported, structural damage was sustained, including to a park home on site.
The Western Cape police have not ruled out the possibility that the attack may be in retaliation for the arrest of three alleged gang members by the Anti-Gang Unit.
Provincial Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile confirmed the incident happened shortly after suspects were arrested for murder.
“[The suspects] are suspected to be responsible for four murders that have happened recently in Kleinvlei. We suspect that there is a link between the shooting at the police station because when they were arrested,” said Patekile.
He suspects that the shooters thought the suspects were being kept at that station, but said they were being processed elsewhere.
Patekile said members of specialised units have been deployed to the station to assist in efforts to find the suspects, as the Hawks continue their probe.
“What we are not going to accept is [an] attack on the police station. I have given an instruction to our members that they must defend our police station with all might that way and the people that are responsible for this, they must be found,” said Patekile.
Despite the attack, police services have continued without disruption, after the crime scene was cleared.
According to Kleinvlei Community Policing Forum (CPF) chairperson, David Poggenpoel, residents visited the site on Wednesday to certify documents and open case dockets.
But he admits that there is still a sense of unease.
“There is a concern from the community. In terms of how safe is it at the police station?”
Poggenpoel confirmed that the officers who were on duty during the incident have since received counselling through internal police wellness services.
The case is now with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation. While calls are made to the public to assist with any information on the incident, Poggenpoel advised that people are no longer as willing to assist.
ALSO READ: A police station in Kleinvlei, Cape Town, has come under fire
“We potentially have lost the interest of… the members of the community that’s keen and willing to forward information for the police. One lady was making mention of the fact that if they can come and shoot at the police station, what’s the chances they find you out there in the streets… where there’s no police,” explained Poggenpoel.
