At least four gunmen suspected of killing six people in a case linked to the missing identity card of one of the suspected killers were in an intense manhunt in South Africa Saturday, police said.
Police suspect that at least four men entered a house in a town near Durban (east) on Friday evening and killed four people there. Two more people were found in a hut a few meters away and a third was injured.
Police spokesman Robert Nchiyonda said that according to the first elements of the investigation, the alleged leader of the deadly raid asked the victims for his identity card before shooting them.
He added, “It is believed that he was involved and wanted by the police for another murder in which he mistakenly dropped his identity.”
According to press reports, this man believed that one of the victims was in possession of the document.
Mass shootings are relatively common in South Africa, a country with one of the highest murder rates in the world.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance party said the latest shooting demonstrated the criminals’ “total disregard” for law enforcement in the country.
Last week, a British doctor was killed in Cape Town during a violent collective taxi drivers’ strike.
