A shooting incident claimed the lives of two family members, while four others were injured in a separate house.
Image: File
Eastern Cape police arrested a 50-year-old man after an attack that left two family members dead and four others injured.
The double murder and attempted murder charges stem from a violent incident on Friday night, January 17, in Mkhambathini Location, a village near eMaxesibeni.
Four armed men, faces concealed by balaclavas, stormed a family home at night, targeting two separate houses on the property.
In the first house, a 16-year-old boy and a 33-year-old woman were shot and killed.
"Information indicates that the family was at home asleep in two different stand-alone houses when these armed men covered with balaclavas started shooting in one house and fatally shot the two deceased," said the police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Siphokazi Mawisa.
Mawisa said the attackers then turned their attention to the second house, where they shot and injured four other people, aged between 20 and 57. The survivors are currently in hospital in critical condition.
The swift action of the Provincial Serious and Violent Crimes unit led to the arrest of one suspect, a 50 year-old, on Saturday, January 18.
He will appear in eMaxesibeni Magistrate's Court on Monday, January 20.
Police are continuing their search for the three other attackers, urging the public to come forward with any information that could assist their investigation.
Members of the community are asked to report any information to their local police station or call the SAPS Crime Stop line at 08600 10111.
IOL News