A seven-year-old boy was allegedly wounded after a police officer discharged a firearm during an altercation with community members in Westbury, Johannesburg, at the weekend.

The boy’s mother, Danielle Foster, said his father and friends were sitting outside their house on Saturday afternoon when a police vehicle arrived. What followed was a scuffle in which an officer was allegedly injured and a warning shot – according to police – was fired to disperse the community.

An investigation is under way to determine how the child, Treygan Foster, was injured.

“They asked them to stand up and searched them, but they found nothing. My son ran in and told me the cops wanted to take his father,” said Foster.

“I went outside and asked a police officer why they wanted to arrest him.”

The police allegedly told her it was because he was not wearing a face mask.

“They told me they were going to take him in for profiling to see if he was on the system. I told them that I would fetch his ID document and one police officer agreed to do the profiling at the scene, but the others didn’t agree,” she said.

It was at this point that the community members got involved and a scuffle broke out with the officers.   

“The police officers started getting violent and pushed us around and that is when the community retaliated,” she said.

“One police officer pulled out his gun ready to shoot and that is when one of the community members threw a brick at him as they could see he wanted to shoot at them. His colleague reacted, he took out his gun and shot straight and that is how the bullet hit my son,” she alleged.

Treygan was wounded in the thigh, she said.

According to Foster, she showed the officer who fired the shot her son’s wound, but he got into the police vehicle and left. Then they took Treygan to Rahima Moosa hospital.

Community activist Melissa Davids said the family spent about four hours at the hospital without getting medical assistance.

“The hospital said they couldn’t perform the surgery and said we needed to go to Joburg Gen [Charlotte Maxeke] Hospital, but they didn’t transfer us or send an ambulance. They did X-rays, gave him Panados and sent him home.”

Foster said she went to the Sophiatown police station on Sunday to open a case but was turned away and told “we were lying”.

Davids then helped the family open a case.

National police spokesperson Col Athlenda Mathe confirmed there had been an incident. She said officers were conducting routine crime prevention duties when they stopped and searched a man.

“While searching this individual, the community is seen in the video [shared on social media] attacking police officials. Also captured in the video is when a member is hit with a brick on the head,” Mathe said.

“In a bid to disperse the violent community, another member fired a warning shot.”

She said the injured officer managed to drive himself to hospital. He was admitted to a level one health facility in Gauteng.

“Later on in the day, a family of a boy came to the police station to open a case after the family alleged that the boy was hit by a bullet which was fired by the member who was attempting to disperse the violent crowd.

“This matter is still under investigation to determine what object grazed the boy’s leg.”

Mathe said three people — two men and a woman — were arrested and charged with interference of police duties and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

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