A taxi driver was found with fatal gunshot wounds following a hijacking on North Coast Road last night, whereafter members proceeded to locate the vehicle within an hour, already severely stripped of parts.
Last night at approximately 19h20 the Marshall Security Emergency Dispatch Centre was alerted to a possible pedestrian vehicle accident. Armed Response Officers and Special Operations Team members were immediately dispatched to the scene where initial reports indicated that a pedestrian had been struck by a Toyota Quantum taxi on North Coast Road in the Avoca area, and that the taxi had fled the scene.
Upon their arrival and investigation our members established that it had not been a pedestrian vehicle accident but a hijacking, and that during the incident the taxi driver had been fatally shot and left on the side of the road. The scene was immediately cordoned off by our team to preserve the crime scene for evidence collection once the SAPS arrived. A spent 9mm cartridge was also found on the scene.
Shortly thereafter members of our Special Ops Team were activated by Tracker SA to assist with locating the hijacked taxi. Our members immediately responded to the last known location of the vehicle, a sugar cane field west of the Tongaat area, only to find various body panels dumped in the field. Car seats, door panels and headlights were also recovered, however the rest of the taxi was still missing.
Determined to find the vehicle, our Special Ops Team together with the Tracker SA ground team proceeded to conduct a thorough search in the area and found what was left of the taxi about 400m away. Within an hour of the hijacking taking place to the vehicle being found, the suspects had completely pulled the taxi apart. A search was conducted for the wanted hijackers but they had fled without a trace.
The recovery scene was secured and handed over to the SAPS for further investigation processing.
Greenwood Park SAPS will be investigating a case of hijacking and murder.
This is the third incident with a similar modus operandi where Toyota Quantum taxi drivers were hijacked on North Coast Road over the past two months.