Twenty-seven people were killed in two separate mass shootings in South Africa within hours of each other, adding to the country’s long-running problem of gun violence.
Police have not confirmed the motive for the Johannesburg attack. Police had not announced a confirmed motive or arrests in either of the two latest mass shootings by Sunday morning, leaving investigators to determine who carried out the attacks and why. Seventeen people were killed in the Johannesburg-area shooting, while another 15 people were injured. Police said the victims in the Johannesburg shooting included 13 men and four women, according to the BBC.
Because of similarities between some of the deaths, according to the BBC, local police said they could not rule out the possibility of a serial killer operating in the area. The two latest mass shootings therefore come amid a wider security crisis involving gang violence, illegal weapons, organised crime and a high murder rate in parts of South Africa.
Eight gunmen reportedly stormed a bar and opened fire on people gathered outside the venue before continuing the attack inside, according to police. The attackers also set two vehicles on fire before fleeing the scene, police said. However, Deputy Provincial Police Commissioner Maj Gen Fred Kekana said the shooting may have been a retaliation linked to an earlier incident. The earlier incident happened last month, when one person was killed and another was wounded, Kekana said, according to AFP. Police said they already had clear images of some of the suspects and, in some cases, knew their names, according to Kekana. The second shooting happened in the early hours of Sunday morning outside an entertainment venue in a township near Cape Town, according to the BBC.
Earlier this year, the military was deployed alongside police in some of the country’s most violent areas in an effort to reduce armed violence. The first shooting happened near Johannesburg on Saturday evening.
