South Africa soccer team captain shot and killed
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and GERALD IMRAY
2 hours ago
The three assailants then fled on foot, according to the police service, which offered a reward of nearly $14,000 for information leading to arrests in the case.
Malila said investigators were treating the incident as an attempted robbery, and a murder investigation was underway. He said no arrests had yet been made and there had been seven people in the house before the two intruders entered. No one else was injured.
Malila also declined to comment on if the shooting took place at the home of Meyiwa's girlfriend, Kelly Khumalo, a South African singer and celebrity, only saying it was at the house of Meyiwa's "friend."
Nothing
was taken from the house, Malila said, but he couldn't rule out that
the gunmen had demanded cellphones, cash and other valuables from the
occupants.
South Africa has a high
rate of violent crime, an issue that was raised during the recent trial
of Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius, who claimed he shot and killed his
girlfriend by mistake during the night after mistaking her for a
dangerous intruder in his home.
Meyiwa
played for South Africa's hugely popular Orlando Pirates club and the
police force said late Sunday on its Twitter account that it was
breaking protocol to announce his death soon after the shooting. Police
also called for calm, saying "upset" people had gathered at the house
and at the hospital where Meyiwa was confirmed dead.
"We
can confirm that Bucs 'keeper Senzo Meyiwa has been shot and sadly
declared dead on arrival at hospital," the police said, using the
nickname for Meyiwa's club.
Police said he was shot after an "altercation" and the suspects ran away.
South
Africa's national police commissioner Riah Phiyega was due to hold a
media conference on the shooting later Monday as a manhunt for the
suspects was launched.
Orlando Pirates said in a
statement that it "has learned with sadness about the untimely death of
our number one goalkeeper and current captain Senzo Meyiwa."
"This
is a sad loss whichever way you look at it — to Senzo's family, his
extended family, Orlando Pirates and to the nation," Orlando Pirates
chairman Irvin Khoza said.
Dean
Furman, one of Meyiwa's national teammates, wrote on Twitter: "Beyond
devastated at the loss of our captain & friend Senzo Meyiwa.
Thoughts & prayers are with his family & friends at this
terrible time."
Meyiwa was
recently made South Africa's captain and led the team in four qualifiers
for the African Cup of Nations this year, including its last game, a
0-0 draw with Republic of Congo on Oct. 15. He played for Orlando
Pirates on Saturday in a 4-1 win over Ajax Cape Town in a cup
competition.
It's the second
death to hit South African sport in three days after former 800-meter
world champion and Olympic silver medalist Mbulaeni Mulaudzi was killed
in a car crash on Friday.
South
African President Jacob Zuma released a statement on Meyiwa's death,
saying "words cannot express the nation's shock at this loss."
"The law enforcement authorities must leave no stone unturned in finding his killers and bring them to justice," Zuma said.
___
Imray reported from Stellenbosch, South Africa.
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