Four men, whose ages range between 27 and 38, were arrested during a dramatic cash-in-transit heist that took place at the Malamulele Shopping Centre on Monday afternoon at about 14:00.

Capt Maano Sadiki, spokesperson for the police in the Mopani Area, said that a Fidelity Guard vehicle was collecting cash from Malamulele Shoprite Store when the incident occurred.

According to the police statement, while the guards were busy loading cash into the vehicle, eight men emerged from the crowds and demanded cash from them at gunpoint. A shootout between the guards and the suspects started. The driver of the security vehicle was shot in the leg during the ordeal.

The statement indicates that a woman who was standing a distance away from the scene was hit by a stray bullet in the right armpit. One suspect was also shot and injured during the incident. The statement further indicates that the suspects immediately loaded their injured friend onto a Ford Bantam with Gauteng registration plates and drove away.

Capt Sadiki said that two more vehicles, a Golf GTI and a Nissan Skyline, belonging to the suspects were parked a distance from the scene. While driving away in the Ford Bantam, some of the suspects jumped out, got into the Skyline and Golf and drove away in the Bantam.

The police, together with concerned community members, started to chase the suspects. According to the statement, the suspects stopped somewhere along the way between Malamulele and Shingalo village and surrendered. Four of them were arrested while three ran away and vanished in the nearby bushes.

The eighth suspect allegedly produced a firearm and shot himself in the mouth during the arrest of the other four. He died at the spot. Three pistols were confiscated during the arrest. The suspect who was shot earlier on was still in hospital at the time of going to press.

The search for the other three suspects was also still on. One of the three vehicles that were being used by the suspects, a Nissan Skyline, was reported stolen in Boksburg while the police were still circulating the desctiption of the other two at the time of going to press.