Midnight shooting leaves two dead in Mountain Rise

Two men have been killed and another two seriously injured in a midnight attack while they slept in their vehicles in an open field.

A mysterious shooting that has claimed the lives of two men and seriously injured two others, who were sleeping in their motor vehicles, in an open field near the Northway Mall in Mountain Rise, during the early hours of Monday morning has police working around the clock.

The four men had been sleeping in the back of their bakkies when they were shot at. Two of the men worked as drivers at Willowton Oil.

Police were alerted to the incident after receiving a call from a Royston Road, Mountain Rise resident who had heard gunshots. On arrival at the scene police found emergency medical services already in attendance.

Two men (whose identity is being with-held as the next of kin has not been notified) were certified dead at the scene while the other two men were rushed to the Northdale and Grey’s Hospital for treatment.

Mountain Rise police spokesman Captain Gayle Abrahams said a specialist task team, that included the station’s “tracing team” had been assigned to the investigation.

“We can confirm that two black men had been killed and another two black men injured. They were sleeping in two separate bakkies and several shots had been fired at their vehicles just after midnight,” said Abrahams.

Willowton Oil’s Frans Henning confirmed that two of the men were employed as drivers by the company. He said they would not divulge their names. Henning also confirmed that Willowton Oil workers were involved in strike action against the company.

SAPS Mountain Rise station commander Brigadier Francis Bantham appealed for anyone with information to come forward.

“The merciless killing of innocent people can not be condoned,” she said.