A 16-year-old boy is in hospital after being shot three times in the stomach and once each in the back, arm and leg.
|||Cape Town - A teenager is lucky to be alive after he was shot six times while walking with friends in Portlands, Mitchells Plain, on Monday.
Jean-Pierre Lestrade, 16, and two friends were walking down Silversands Street just before 11pm when a white Opel Corsa bakkie went past and the occupants opened fire on the teen.
A witness said he saw the bakkie with blue tinted windows chase the teenager and his two friends.
“They ran in different directions. The bakkie slowly crept up to him and one guy jumped from the back of the bakkie.”
The witness said he heard him shout: “Hosh die nommer raak vol,” which means “I’m paying a debt” in slang.
He claimed the shooter was a 27s gang member.
The teen’s mother, Charlene Lestrade, said she was at home when a neighbour told her Jean-Pierre had been shot.
“I went to him immediately. When I arrived he was lying on the ground, the ambulance hadn’t arrived and he was unconscious.
“Everything happened so fast. The police said I shouldn’t move him or touch him.”
Lestrade said once the ambulance arrived, they were taken to Groote Schuur Hospital and Jean-Pierre regained consciousness.
“He just said, ‘I love you, Mommy’.”
Lestrade said her son had been shot six times - three times in the stomach and once each in the back, arm and leg.
She added that Jean-Pierre had survived an incident last year when petrol had been poured on to his face and set alight after an argument over a girl.
“He is a fighter, a diehard.”
Lestrade added that her son did not belong to a gang.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said police were investigating a case of attempted murder and armed robbery.
He said police had responded to a complaint of a shooting in Portlands and had found a 16-year-old with multiple bullet wounds. “The victim was treated at the scene and taken to a nearby hospital.”
He added that it was alleged that the teen was walking in the street when he was stopped by unknown suspects driving an Opel Corsa LDV. “The victim was robbed of his belongings and shot.”
*Anyone with information about the incident may contact Detective Warrant Officer Dedrick April at 084 516 7263.
natasha.bezuidenhout@inl.co.za
Cape Argus