Learners and staff at Ocean View Secondary School were left traumatised after a gang shooting occurred on the school premises early on Monday 25 April.
Lee Yon, a security guard who was patrolling the school grounds, says he saw three alleged gang members walk from the back of the school grounds towards the front gate just before 10:00.
“There was a shooting between two rival gangs. I was on patrol when the gang came walking from the back of the school, I wanted to tell them to turn back because they are not allowed to be here.
“When I reached them, I wanted to escort them out at the main gate.”
He says as he was escorting the men towards the main gate, all hell broke loose as a rival gang started firing from the school’s front gate.
“The other gang was already on that side waiting for them to come out.”
Yon was lucky to escape unharmed as he ducked and tried to get out of the way.
“At the time I was just trying to bend down and duck because I was with the three of them. It happened while we were in the car park.”
In a letter sent to parents, acting school principal Andrew Sanders said learners will receive counselling after the incident.
“The shooting situation in Ocean View has become seriously out of control. On Monday 25 April at about 10:05 a shooting incident happened in the car park of our school.
“By the grace of God no person or learner on the premises was harmed, Metro police and police stabilised the situation immediately, but the emotional damage to our learners and everyone affiliated to the school will for ever affect us.
“May I assure parents/guardians that our school remains a safe haven and a gun and drug free area.”
A 49-year-old woman who works at a farm on the school grounds says gang members cut a hole in the school fence.
“We are farming on the school grounds at Ocean View High and at the moment we feel unsafe because we are five females. The gangsters came through a hole at the top of the field, the fence is not secure. We’ve been pleading and begging for people to fix the fence.”
The grandmother, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear for her life, said she hid away in a shipping container on the premises when the shooting started.
“We couldn’t close the door fast enough, we had to hide in there. Eventually when we thought it was over it wasn’t and they started firing again.
“Children were scattering around, apparently a teacher fainted. There were still a few children roaming around outside. We didn’t know what to do.”
The traumatised woman says the gang shootings have become normal for Ocean View.
“It happened in about three minutes but it felt like three hours and it was a lot of shots because it was crossfire in opposite directions.”
She further added that the broken fence has been a problem for some time.
“Two years ago our manager had a gun pointed at him here and they robbed him of his chain and laptop. Last year we had a few incidents where people came onto the premises, threatened us with guns and they robbed the contractors that were building the nursery.”
Martin August, a security guard at the school, says gangs often use the school grounds, especially at night.
“The gang situation is worse than ever over here. It is getting worse each year and they are getting younger, 14 and 15 years old.
“They have been running through the facility with guns, especially at night. This is an escape route for them and if they want to transport their drugs they do it through the school.”
Meanwhile Capt Nick Spreeth, head of visible policing at Ocean View Police Station, said three people were injured in separate shooting incidents on 24 and 25 April.
“Just after 15:00 on Sunday 24 April the officers received a complaint of a shooting that took place in Milky way, Ocean View.
“On their arrival they found a male shot several times through the mouth, through the chest and the groin. He was transferred to Groote Schuur hospital. Another male person was shot through the arm and was transported to the local hospital.”
In a separate incident a man was shot in the early hours of Monday 25 April.
“On Monday at 00:50 the officers received a complaint of a shooting in Proteus way, Ocean View.
Upon their arrival they found a male with a gunshot wound to the head.”
Hours later gun shots rang out at Ocean View High School.
“On Monday at around 10:00 the shift received a complaint of rival gangs shooting at each other. The one gang was on the school field and the other outside the school yard. No injuries or fatalities were reported,” said Spreeth.
Ocean View Community Policing Forum (CPF) Chair Mansoer Ismail said there were multiple shots fired during gang-related shootings over that weekend. “We are trying to stabilise the area. Over the past weekend we had 30 to 35 shots that went off. Three people were shot, one person passed away. We as the CPF are doing our utmost best to stabilise all entities of crime in the area.”
Ismail added that unfortunately gangs cannot be stopped from running onto school premises.
“We know there is a gang war between the JFK’s and the Taylor boys, so we know that they are shooting for position and not territory, but the community has been assisting in every way they can such as neighbourhood watches. Unfortunately we cannot stop the gangs running on the schools. We know we have limited resources.
“What we are doing now is to have a police vehicle stationed at the high school so that nothing happens to the children and to also have police visibility in the area. We are also pushing for the Metro to do regular routine check-ups and drive through the community.”
