Parkwood community leader Paul Phillips said that angry residents had had enough of gang violence plaguing their community.
CAPE TOWN – Following the shooting of another child, a Parkwood community leader said that residents were being held hostage by warring gangs.
On Monday, an 8-year-old boy was caught in the crossfire of gang violence.
The child sustained a bullet wound to the head and is in a critical condition in hospital.
Parkwood community leader Paul Phillips said that the 8-year-old boy was just meters from his home when he was struck in the head by a gangster’s stray bullet in Parker’s Walk.
The child is fighting for his life in ICU.
Phillips said that angry residents had had enough of gang violence plaguing their community.
“We can’t afford another child to be shot or killed. Our senior citizens are being held hostage in their houses.”
He said that gunshots ring out at any time of the day and night.
“Our working people are afraid to go to work in the mornings, school-going children are afraid to go to school because the shootings also happen during school hours. This has now become a norm.”
Witnesses yesterday told police that the shooters were affiliated to local gangs and one of them was a known drug dealer.
Officers have arrested a 22-year-old suspect and the man is due to appear in court later this week on a charge of attempted murder.