I don’t want to put a dampener on your Friday, and I’m sure you knew this already, but we’re in the midst of a crime blitz here in South Africa.

The cash-in-transit heists are increasing by the week, gangs are cruising around nicking watches at gunpoint as they please, and people are brawling over cold pizza in Durban.

But, you know, there’s snow on the mountains and we live in a beautiful country, so…

Now there is a lot going on in the video you’re about to watch from Northcliff‚ Johannesburg, and you’ll need some background from Times LIVE before you hit play:

Private security company Suburban Control Centre‚ which was at scene of the incident and whose officers were involved in the shootout‚ said in a Facebook post that one of their officers “drove into a driveway robbery in Montgomery Park”.

“A chase ensued between the three suspects and their silver Mercedes-Benz. After the suspects crashed the Mercedes on the corner of Beyers Naude and Milner Avenue‚ they ran across to the Engen garage and hijacked a young lady driving a blue Toyota Etios‚” the post continued.

When the company’s officers cornered the hijackers‚ “they started shooting whilst fleeing the scene”.

So that’s where this one kicks off – seatbelts on, because it does contain footage that might be distressing to many:

Wow. Broad daylight and there are just bullets flying everywhere.

The crazy thing is how normalised this has become. You’re probably already halfway through your second coffee and about to skim over some emails.

More from the security company involved in the shoot-out:

“One of our reaction officers returned fire and shot one of the suspects (the driver) dead. “The other two exited the hijacked vehicle‚ where one entered into a taxi pointed [at] the driver with a firearm and fled towards Melville. The other suspect fled on foot into a nearby area. The deceased suspect’s firearm has also been recovered in the car‚” the post said.

I see no mention made of the other being caught, so I guess we’ll assume they’re still on the loose.

Oh, ja – happy Friday.

[source:timeslive]