Ameer Abrahams, the 5-year-old boy who was struck in the head by a bullet as he walked with his father to a tuckshop in Manenberg on Monday, January 6, has died in hospital.
Yesterday, police arrested three men in connection with the incident where shots were fired randomly towards a group of men at about 6.45pm and hit Ameer as well as two women, aged 21 and 54, standing in front of an Irvine Street house.
Ameer ran towards a house and collapsed. He was shot in the head, one woman in her thigh, and the other in her lower back.
Ameer was taken to Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital where he died today, said Manenberg police station spokesman, Captain Ian Bennet.
He said the men who were arrested in Jordan Street in Manenberg yesterday, Tuesday January 7, are still being questioned and don’t have a date to appear in court yet. The trio are being held at Manenberg police station.
“Gang shooting is always prevalent in the area and so is sporadic shooting. We don’t yet know the reason for the shooting. We urge the community to be more active against gangsterism,” he said.
According to a media release by the City of Cape Town, 114 illegal guns were confiscated in Manenberg, Hanover Park, and Philippi, from October to December last year.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, said: “It can never be acceptable that children are not able to walk safely to a local tuckshop with a parent, and people should not live in daily fear of crime in their neighbourhoods.”
