At a birthday party in South Africa, a mass shooting claimed the lives of eight people
Eight people were killed and three others were injured when two armed men opened fire on a group of people in a South African slum who were celebrating a birthday over the weekend.
The mass shooting took place on Sunday between 5:15 and 5:30 p.m. (15:15 and 15:30 GMT) at a home in Kwazakele, Gqeberha, according to a statement from the South African Police Service (SAPS).
The birthday person was one of the victims of the incident.
After the attack, the gunman fled, and no one has been taken into custody, according to the police.
Investigations into the circumstances and possible motives for the attack were ongoing. Police have not named the victims, but confirmed that the owner of the house was among them.
The gunmen ‘randomly shot at guests,’ police said, adding ‘eight people died while three others are still fighting for their lives in hospital. The home owner is among the deceased’.
An investigation has been launched into the attack and police said a manhunt for the perpetrators was underway.
The Eastern Cape’s provincial police commissioner, Nomthetheleli Mene, denounced the deaths as showing “a clear contempt for human life.”
Mene declared, “These victims were murdered by criminals, and we won’t stop until we learn what happened and who was behind (this) heartless and cold-blooded attack on these innocent victims.”
The most recent event comes after a slew of large-scale shootings that horrified the country last year. In July, a string of hours apart random shootings resulted in the deaths of 19 persons by gunmen.
