Kamogelo Seekoei

Kamogelo Seekoei

A gun-wielding man was arrested in the Johannesburg inner city yesterday after shooting at police officers patrolling in the area.

The man and six accomplices had just tried to rob a shop when police arrived on the scene.

Metro police spokesman Wayne Minnaar said officers spotted the man running down the street gun in hand.

They ordered him to stop, but he started shooting at the police. The gunman blasted the windscreen of the police car and fled.

The officers chased him on foot and stopped him with a shot in the leg.

Minnaar said the man was taken to hospital for treatment.

He was caught on the corner of Troy and Anderson streets in central Johannesburg while trying to don blue overalls to disguise himself.

Minnaar said police found an illegal firearm on the man.

"He had thrown another gun in a street-side bin while running from the police," said Minnaar.

The gunman was charged with attempted murder and being in possession of an illegal firearm.

"We charged him with attempted murder because that's exactly what he was trying to do," he said.

Minnaar said the officers had been able to arrest the man because of a crime unit established earlier this month, which "has helped us a lot since it was established."

He said the metro police had also increased the number of officers patrolling Johannesburg's inner city areas.