Seconds before he was fatally shot‚ a 21-year-old University of Johannesburg (UJ) student and his friends were arguing‚ drinks in hand‚ with two men on a metal staircase.

Moments later‚ he lay face down‚ blood pooling around his lifeless body on the 14th floor of a student residence.

These scenes have emerged in two photographs which capture in graphic detail the seconds before a BSc Computer Science and Informatics student died at The Yard private residence in the early hours of Saturday morning – and the aftermath.

The first photograph depicts a man wearing a denim shirt‚ facing students while an altercation is taking place. In his hand he is wielding what appears to be a gun‚ with a pool table in the background. A second picture captures a gruesome scene after the student was shot.

An eyewitness said on Monday that the University of Johannesburg student who died had not been causing trouble.

According to a photographer who was at the scene during the shooting‚ the student and his friends were having a good time when two men‚ one dressed in a security uniform and the other wearing jeans‚ came and chased them as a party was winding down.

“They decided to go to the fourteenth floor to further celebrate because the party at the first floor had just ended. When I got to the 14th floor I found them in an argument with the guy in jeans‚” said Magnificent Mndebele.

Mndebele said the argument moved from a lounge‚ where about five students were asking the “security guard” to leave‚ to a corridor next to a black staircase.

“The students were not causing trouble so I can’t tell you why he chased them. So they started pushing him‚ asking him to leave and when he left he just shot at someone‚” charged Mndebele.

Mndebele said a 9mm bullet casing lay on the staircase after the shot was fired. He added that he knew the student was dead after his friends called his name out a couple of times to no avail. Next to his body lay an overturned glass and a cap.

“As [the gunman] left he was not even running‚ he just walked calmly‚” Mndebele said.

 “It happened so fast. As he was leaving we just heard ‘boom’ and he shot. It was all just unexpected…. After he shot him the [shooter] had blood all over his shirt but he continued to leave with no one stopping him‚” Mndebele recalled. “Everyone started panicking‚ screaming and crying and eventually they ran off. I was left there alone with him‚” he said.

Mndebele is adamant that the man who shot the student was a private security guard. Africa Housing Company issued a statement on Monday denying that a security guard had fired the fatal shot at one of its properties in the inner city of Johannesburg.

“At this stage it is unclear exactly what transpired‚ but initial reports suggest that an altercation took place between a group of students and an individual after an end-of-year party held at the building‚” said a statement issued by the company.

“The individual‚ unknown to Afhco‚ appears to have entered the property at the same time as security guards employed by SNG Security. The latter private security company was contracted to place two uniformed and unarmed security guards at the party. Afhco prohibits all security guards from carrying any weapons on its properties. It is unclear why the individual was armed.”

Counselling has been arranged for the family of the victim and other residents of the building.

The university sent its condolences to the family.

“The University of Johannesburg is saddened by the death of one of our students‚ who was fatally shot in the early hours of Saturday morning‚ allegedly by a security guard at a privately owned accommodation where he resided.

“The cause of the incident is unclear at the moment. The South African Police is investigating the incident. It is important to note that the security official involved was not in the employ of the University of Johannesburg‚” the university said in a statement.

Police spokesman Noxolo Khweza said the gunman was still at large on Monday. — TMG Digital