A LOVELORN teenager shot his teenage girlfriend dead in a public street in Port Elizabeth yesterday, before fleeing and turning the gun on himself
Booysen Park High School pupil Izeane Meintjies, 15, died instantly when she was shot in the chest after what eyewitnesses described as a lovers’ quarrel.
She had been arguing with Errol Plaatjies, 19, whom residents fingered as a drug peddler.
A witness, who did not want named as she feared druglords would come after her, lives about 30m from the shooting scene in Petersen Street, Boosyen Park. She said Plaatjies was known to sell drugs to children.
Another woman, who also asked not to be named, was entering her house when she saw the couple “playing” on the pavement.
“I don’t know what was happening. They were sitting on the drain outside the house talking. I went inside and heard two loud bangs. I thought they were lighting firecrackers but the children who were playing outside came running in to call me,” the woman said.
“I went to look in the road and she was lying in the middle of the road and he was running away. He lives in a back room behind a house in the street. Minutes later we heard another bang. I called the police and ambulance straight away.”
The woman and some of the residents then ran after Plaatjies.
“We went into the room where he stays and found him lying there with blood coming out his chest and a gun in his hand.”
Meintjies’s mother, Jolene, 33, believed Plaatjies shot her daughter because she had wanted to break up with him.
“She did not want to see him anymore. I do not know what happened here but I am just so shocked. She came home from school earlier and went to visit him to tell him it was over. Now this has happened,” she said.
“I spoke to him [Plaatjies] this morning [yesterday] and told him that she did not want to see him anymore and that he should stay away from her. This is maybe what caused the shootout, but I really don’t know.”
Police spokesman Captain Johan Rheeder confirmed that drugs were found on the scene but could not comment on whether he was peddling drugs in the area.
“This is all part of the investigation and we cannot say if he was a dealing in drugs,” he said.
Rheeder said Plaatjies was not a licenced gun owner and that the firearm used in the shooting was possibly stolen.
“It is a 9mm handgun with the serial number filed off. Our forensic experts will ascertain where the gun comes from,” he said.
Teen shoots girlfriend in street
A LOVELORN teenager shot his teenage girlfriend dead in a public street in Port Elizabeth yesterday, before fleeing and turning the gun on himself
Booysen Park High School pupil Izeane Meintjies, 15, died instantly when she was shot in the chest after what eyewitnesses described as a lovers’ quarrel.
She had been arguing with Errol Plaatjies, 19, whom residents fingered as a drug peddler.
A witness, who did not want named as she feared druglords would come after her, lives about 30m from the shooting scene in Petersen Street, Boosyen Park. She said Plaatjies was known to sell drugs to children.
Another woman, who also asked not to be named, was entering her house when she saw the couple “playing” on the pavement.
“I don’t know what was happening. They were sitting on the drain outside the house talking. I went inside and heard two loud bangs. I thought they were lighting firecrackers but the children who were playing outside came running in to call me,” the woman said.
“I went to look in the road and she was lying in the middle of the road and he was running away. He lives in a back room behind a house in the street. Minutes later we heard another bang. I called the police and ambulance straight away.”
The woman and some of the residents then ran after Plaatjies.
“We went into the room where he stays and found him lying there with blood coming out his chest and a gun in his hand.”
Meintjies’s mother, Jolene, 33, believed Plaatjies shot her daughter because she had wanted to break up with him.
“She did not want to see him anymore. I do not know what happened here but I am just so shocked. She came home from school earlier and went to visit him to tell him it was over. Now this has happened,” she said.
“I spoke to him [Plaatjies] this morning [yesterday] and told him that she did not want to see him anymore and that he should stay away from her. This is maybe what caused the shootout, but I really don’t know.”
Police spokesman Captain Johan Rheeder confirmed that drugs were found on the scene but could not comment on whether he was peddling drugs in the area.
“This is all part of the investigation and we cannot say if he was a dealing in drugs,” he said.
Rheeder said Plaatjies was not a licenced gun owner and that the firearm used in the shooting was possibly stolen.
“It is a 9mm handgun with the serial number filed off. Our forensic experts will ascertain where the gun comes from,” he said.
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