A deadly mass shooting at a tavern in Johannesburg’s Soweto township has killed 15 people and left others in critical condition, according to police.
Police say they are investigating reports that a group of men arrived in a minibus taxi and opened fire on some of the patrons at the bar shortly after midnight Sunday.
The number of cartridges found on the scene indicates that a group of people opened fire in the bar, said Gauteng province police commissioner Lt. Gen. Elias Mawela.
“The primary investigation suggests that these people were enjoying themselves here, in a licensed tavern operating within the right hours,” Mawela told The Associated Press.
“All of a sudden they heard some gunshots, that is when people tried to run out of the tavern. We don’t have the full details at the moment of what is the motive, and why they were targeting these people,” he said.
In a separate incident, four people were shot dead by unknown gunmen at a tavern in Sweetwaters township in the coastal city of Pietermaritzburg on Saturday night.
According to the police, two men entered the tavern and randomly opened fire on the patrons, killing two people on the scene while two others were confirmed dead at the hospital. Police said 8 other people are receiving treatment in a hospital. The deceased were aged between 30 and 45 and police are investigating charges of murder and attempted murder, police said.
“The team will be working around the clock to track down and bring to book those responsible for this shooting”, said Kwazulu-Natal police commissioner Gen. Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the two bar shootings. “As a nation, we cannot allow violent criminals to terrorize us in this way, regardless of where such incidents may occur,” Ramaphosa said in a statement.
“As government, citizens and structures of civil society we must all work together even more closely to improve social and economic conditions in communities, reduce violent crime and stamp out the illicit circulation of firearms,” he said.
The bar shootings come two weeks after 21 teenagers were found dead in a tavern in the city of East London. The cause of those deaths has not yet been announced by authorities, but the teens were not shot nor crushed in a stampede, according to officials.
Mass shootings have been reported around the recently. Some of these attacks have been called terrorist attacks while others have been called mass shootings.
Payton Gendron accused of killing 10 Black people in a racist attack on a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket was indicted by a grand jury on a state domestic terrorism and hate crime charge that would carry a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Frank R James who has shot 20 people last month at the Brooklyn Subway has been charged with terrorism charges.
Until recently, if an attacker is considered Muslim, they are assumed to be terrorists. More recently, the attacker would have to have ideological purpose are considered terrorists. Nathaniel Veltman who killed a Muslim family in London Ontario was charged with terrorism, however, Alexandre Bissonnette who shot six praying in Mosque in Quebec City was not charged with any hate crime or terrorism.
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