Three people were injured in a shootout with police in Grassy Park, Cape Town, late on Saturday night, a police spokesperson said on Sunday.
Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said that, according to reports, the incident occurred at 23:30.
She said police had been responding to a complaint when a shooting between them and a group occurred. Three people - aged 18, 26 and 27 - were shot and wounded.
No police officers were injured.
Rwexana said three cases of attempted murder had been opened for investigation by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).
IPID acting spokesperson Sontaga Seisa said they had received a complaint about the discharge of an official firearm in the Grassy Park area.
IPID's information put the incident after midnight.
Seisa said police K9 Unit officials had allegedly come under attack "by means of firearms".
"It is alleged that police officials returned fire and, in the process, some suspects got injured," he said.
"It is still too early to have anyone arrested, as investigations have just commenced."
The shooting comes amid a weekend of heightened police activity to crack down on gangsterism and other crimes.
The SA National Defence Force is also expected to provide support to the police in the form of cordons during operations.
An anti-crime summit was also held in Paarl over the weekend.
Police Minister Bheki Cele revealed on Sunday that five officers had been arrested in special operations which started three days ago in crime-ridden areas of Cape Town.
He added that 141 people had been arrested since the beginning of the operation in Philippi this week.
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