A bullet grazed the head of a Durban man who survived a shoot-out with four would-be robbers armed with an AK-47.
|||Durban - A bullet grazed the head of a Durban businessman who survived a shoot-out with four would-be robbers armed with handguns and an AK-47 rifle at his Parlock home.
Three men tried to force their way into the house, at the intersection of Parlock Drive and Carden Crescent, at 8am on Tuesday. A fourth waited in the front garden with an AK-47.
The 40-year-old businessman, who wished to remain anonymous for fear the gunmen might return, said he was in the bathroom when he heard his wife scream.
Three men with guns were trying to pry open the kitchen gate.
The man fetched his gun and told his family and domestic worker to hide.
He fired shots at the armed robbers, who then fled from the side of the house into the front garden.
“I came to my front door to assess the situation. I heard what sounded like fireworks going off. One of the men had an AK-47 in his hand and his finger on the trigger. I kept shooting back in his direction,” he said. “The men jumped into a white Audi and fled.”
During the shoot-out a bullet grazed the man’s forehead, an inch away from his right eye. He received five stitches to the wound.
A damaged burglar gate, shattered lounge windows and the front house walls and fence pockmarked with bullet holes bore testimony to the gun battle.
Police chalk markings around bullet shells and bloodstains on the driveway indicated that the robbers were well armed and at least one of them could be wounded.
The businessman said the robbers had climbed over his front driveway gate, opened the automatic driveway gate box and deactivated the gate, which allowed the men to open it with ease. The robbers, who wore balaclavas, then reversed their car into the property.
“My life was in God’s hands. It was a very traumatic incident,” the homeowner said, clutching his five-year-old daughter and assessing the damage. “I will leave the investigations in the hands of the police
.”
Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said a case of attempted murder, attempted house robbery and malicious damage to property was being investigated.
A relative at the scene said they were told that a gang of robbers armed with an AK-47 rifle had been involved in other robberies in KwaZulu-Natal.
They are believed to have been involved in a house robbery in Dawncliffe, Westville on Saturday. Zwane said a 64-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint by two men.
The men are also believed to have robbed a business in Malvern. Zwane said the 44-year-old victim was in his shop when two armed men entered and demanded money and cellphones.
They took airtime vouchers, cigarettes and cash.
zainul.dawood@inl.co.za
Daily News