Monday, April 20, 2009

Eina! A new threat hits Jozi...


Most Joburgers are tough people. I mean, we live on the edge. Every day we face crime that's unacceptably high - even the ANC admits this so it's pretty damn bad, lawless taxi drivers, infinite roadworks, non-functioning traffic lights and even moms with tiny babies have adapted and can survive happily without electricity for untold periods of time. And most times we are alive at the end of the day.
However, today I discovered the emergence of a new threat. The drive-by paintball shooting! I am NOT kidding you.
I swear, we go the press release today. Apparently on Friday night some dodgy characters drove slowly past two women on the side of the road. It's not clear what the women were doing - sitting, walking, waiting for a bus. Whatever, I think it's safe to assume that they were not armed with knives dripping blood, running from the scene of a crime, jumping from a taxi without paying or doing anything whatsoever to prompt an attack on their persons. And then, out of the blue and for absolutely no apparent reason, the dodgy characters started firing off pot shots at them.
One of the women was hit, and went hysterical. Someone called for an ambulance and the paramedics arrived to examine her injured left leg.
"Her small round non-penetrating injury was consistent with that of a wound caused by a paintball gun. The victim experienced moderate pain and although was shocked by the attack seemed to calm down when she realised that she had not been shot with a 'real gun' and she refused hospital transportation," the press statement explained.
The report continued: "There was not much that the medics could do to treat the bruise that may remain for some period of time."
So I am thinking this is maybe not so bad. Like nobody got maimed or burnt to death by a runaway tanker ploughed into their car in morning traffic like happened to another poor lady this morning.
But the bad news continued: this is NOT the first case. Indeed! Paramedics have been called out to a very similar drive-by attack in Pretoria. And another one in Honeydew. It seems we have a gang dangerous paintball gunmen roaming the streets, targeting innocent victims. And paramedics are getting called out to treat hysterical patients with small, round bruises that hurt like hell.
This is not good news. Although I figure that with the number of licensed and unlicensed gun owners in Jozi, it's just a matter of time til these lunatics provoke a gun-toting victim and get popped themselves. Only with a real bullet.
May the police catch these bad boys soon.

1 comment:

  1. Holy crap... I've seen countless road signs and political posters splattered with paint blobs, but shooting at people? That shit hurts!

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