Johannesburg - Two policemen have been shot and killed while responding to a hijacking in Sonland Park, Vereeniging, Gauteng police said on Sunday.
The owner of a house in Korhaan Street and his brother were driving out of the premises on Saturday evening when a white Elantra stopped and blocked their way, spokesperson Captain Pinky Tsinyane said.
Three men got out, held them at gunpoint and demanded their car keys. One of the victims tried to run to a passing police patrol. The hijackers shot him in the leg.
The three hijackers then opened fire on the police officers after they got out of their car. The two, a warrant officer and a constable, died on the scene. They were based at the Vereeniging police station.
The gunmen fled with the police vehicle. It was later abandoned after they hijacked another vehicle.
The killing of the officers brought to three the number of policemen killed in Gauteng within a week.
On Wednesday Constable Eianah Rangani was shot and killed, and his colleague critically wounded while on patrol in Hillbrow, Johannesburg.
The occupant of a car shot at them when they tried to search it.