Within 24 hours, two men were shot dead in separate incidents at the exact same spot in Woodstock.
There have been three fatal shootings in the suburb in the past week.
A 50-year-old man was shot multiple times as he sat in his silver VW Polo on the corner of Argyle and Regent streets, at 11.30am on Tuesday September 7.
Just 24 hours earlier, a 27-year-old man’s body was found at the same spot, at 6.40am. He had been shot four times.
Police are investigating whether the two shootings are linked.
Woodstock police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Alroy van der Berg asked anyone with information to come forward. “They can contact the police anonymously,” he said.
A Woodstock resident, who did not want to be named, said he had seen bullet casings at the scene of the 50-year-old man’s shooting and he had tried to move onlookers back.
In a separate incident, on Sunday September 5, at about 12.45am, a 29-year-old man was shot six times in Woodstock’s Mascani informal settlement.
“The deceased is known to us, and we are asking anyone to come forward with information regarding the shooting,” said Lieutenant Colonel van der Berg.
The motive for the shooting was unknown, he said.
A few hours after the Mascani shooting, a minibus taxi drove into the back of a stationary neighbourhood watch patrol vehicle in Albert Street.
Three watch members, along with a Woodstock police reservist, were in the vehicle at the time, according to Shamiel Abbass, a Central Woodstock Neighbourhood Watch committee member.
“All three members of the watch sustained serious injury though are recovering at home, while the Woodstock police reservist sustained a concussion though he is fine,” he said.
Lieutenant Colonel van der Berg said the taxi driver had been charged with negligent driving.
Anyone with information on the shootings can call Lieutenant Colonel Van der Berg at 082 469 3096 or Woodstock police at 021 442 3117.
