It was high drama along the Elim/Louis Trichardt Road early on Monday morning when police managed to foil an apparent attempt at a cash-in-transit robbery.

Four suspected armed robbers met their match when a shootout ensued between them and the police, leaving one of the suspects dead.

The drama unfolded just before 06:00. The four suspects were tailing a Coin Security vehicle shortly after it had loaded money into an ATM at the Elim Spar complex. Members of the police’s specialised unit in Polokwane were, however, waiting for them, following a tip-off regarding a possible armed robbery to take place in the area that morning.

As the security firm and the suspects´ vehicle left the shopping complex, the police intercepted the suspects´ vehicle, ordering them to stop. According to provincial police spokesperson Col Ronel Otto, the suspects opened fire on the police and a shootout followed. The suspects´ vehicle swerved from the road, ending up in a ditch, with three of the four suspects managing to escape. One suspect was not so lucky and was shot dead at the scene. It was, however, not long before the police managed to arrest the other three suspects, after searching nearby houses.

At the time of going to press, the name of the deceased suspect was not yet known. The names of the three suspects arrested could also not be released, as they had yet to appear in court.

Monday’s incident bears a striking resemblance to an armed robbery that took place at Tshakuma Spar exactly a week before on Monday, June 14. Here, three masked armed robbers overpowered three security guards from G4 Security shortly after they had collected money from the Spar shop. They took the guards´ firearms and managed to escape with an undisclosed amount of money in the direction of Thohoyandou. Police were unable to confirm whether the three suspects arrested on Monday this week could be linked to the June 14 robbery at Tshakuma.