Police hunt eight gunmen after Carletonville tavern massacre

Gauteng police are searching for eight armed suspects after a mass shooting at a tavern in Extension 3, Wedela, near Carletonville, on Saturday night. Seventeen people were declared dead at the scene and 15 others were wounded. No arrests have been made.

The attack happened at about 21:30 at the tavern, also reported as Dora’s Tavern on Hector Peterson Street. Police said patrons were drinking inside and outside when the gunmen arrived, opened fire on people outside, then entered and continued shooting. The suspects were armed with AK-47 rifles and pistols. They searched some patrons, took cellphones, and fled in two unidentified vehicles. Two other vehicles were set alight.

The dead were 13 men and four women. Police opened 17 counts of murder, 15 counts of attempted murder and two counts of malicious damage to property. A later police update said one of the wounded had died in hospital, which would raise the death toll to 18 and change the charge sheet. Confirm that figure before you publish it as final.

Gauteng Police Commissioner General Tommy Mthombeni said investigators have CCTV images of the eight suspects and are following leads. He said robbery appears to have been a motive because phones, wallets and other belongings were taken. Police have not ruled out an illegal-mining turf fight. Deputy Provincial Commissioner Fred Kekana said a shooting at the same tavern about a month earlier left one person dead, and that one of those killed on Saturday was a person police had been looking for in that earlier case.

A separate Limpopo arrest reported on the same day relates to the murder of Ntombifuthi Nxumalo in Tembisa, not this shooting. That suspect was arrested in Mohlabaneng village. It should not be linked to the Wedela massacre.

Police are still hunting the eight gunmen. Anyone with information can contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the MySAPS app.

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