Hawks Nab Man on the Run for 6 Months for Killing Durban Metro Cop, 2 Others: “More Arrests Looming”

• The Hawks arrested one suspect, part of a group who allegedly shot and killed three people in Lamontville in March 2024
• The incident happened during a fatal altercation when several men accosted an off-duty Durban Metro officer and his friends
• The KZN Hawks' Lt-Col Simphiwe Mhlongo told Briefly News that the suspect was apprehended in Umlazi on Tuesday
• The suspect is expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Friday, 6 September, while more arrests are imminent

DURBAN — The KwaZulu-Natal Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) on Tuesday arrested one suspect in Umlazi for allegedly shooting dead an off-duty Durban Metro police officer and two others.

The Hawks' Durban Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit and Durban Metro Police Service tracked down the 21-year-old man in Umlazi.

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He was among a group on the run for the past six months.

KZN Hawks spokesperson Lt-Col Simphiwe Mhlongo said Durban Metro Police VIP Unit member Siyathokoza Mthethwa and two friends, Merik Thringe and Nkanyiso Makhanya, were at a shisanyama in Lamontville on Sunday, 3 March 2024, when unknown men accosted them.

"It is alleged that the suspects approached [Mthethwa and his friends], and [an] argument ensued. The suspects fired several shots at them, killing them at the scene. They fled the scene in a getaway vehicle," said Mhlongo.

"Lamontville police registered a triple murder case docket, which was allocated to the Hawks for [a] thorough investigation. [Detectives] received information about one of the suspects in Umlazi, where they arrested him."

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Mhlongo told Briefly News that the suspect, who cannot be named until he appears in court and pleads to the charges, was apprehended at about 23:57. He was on the run since the day of the incident when Mthethwa was off-duty.

It was unknown how many suspects were involved in the alleged murders, while the others remain at large, Mhlongo told Briefly News.

"Our investigation will determine how many suspects were involved, but more arrests are imminent," he said.

The suspect will appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

Source: Briefly News