Gang violence claimed the lives of two innocent bystanders in Ottery on Good Friday (15 April).
One of the victims, identified as Monique Cottle, lost her daughter Scarlett (4) just months earlier, also in an alleged gang-related shooting.
Provincial police spokesperson Capt Frederick van Wyk confirmed that two people died and a third was injured in the shooting on Friday.
“Grassy Park police are investigating a double murder and an attempted murder case after a shooting incident on 15 April at about 20:25 in Radnor Court, Hector Road, Ottery.
“Two persons, a woman aged 26 and a male aged 32, were shot and fatally wounded.”
Van Wyk added that a 19-year-old, who was shot in the right arm and both legs, was taken to a nearby medical facility for medical treatment.
“Circumstances surrounding this fatal shooting incident are under investigation.
“The possibility that this incident can be gang-related will be investigated, and if it is related as a revenge attack of the shooting incident at a shopping centre in Ottery,” said Van Wyk.
On Thursday 14 April, an alleged gang member was shot and wounded at a shopping centre in Ottery.
Tributes from family and friends of the victims shot and killed on Good Friday poured in on social media.
Bronwyn Daniels wrote on Facebook: “Rest in peace Monique Cottle and my deepest condolences to the family, especially to my friend Lindsay Cottle. You have lost your little girl by bullet and now your wife, I can’t imagine what you really going through (sic).”
In September last year, Scarlett was reportedly reading a book in bed when she was struck by bullets after three gunmen opened fire on the Wendy house where she lives in Ottery.
The City of Cape Town’s Gang Unit and Police Anti-Gang Unit conducted major operations in Ottery at the time to deal with the flare-up in violence.
Women For Change, a non-profit organisation (NPO) that advocates for women’s and children’s rights, wrote that it was heart-breaking that Monique and her daughter were both killed by stray bullets.
“Monique Cottle was shot dead on Good Friday 15 April. She was shot while standing outside, chatting with friends. Monique was the mother of Scarlett Cottle (4) who was shot inside a Wendy house in Ottery, Cape Town, last year. The little girl died in hospital on 29 September 2021.
“It is so heartbreaking to think that Monique lost her four-year-old daughter Scarlett to a stray bullet last year, and now she lost her own life.”
Allison van Neel commented that people were prisoners in their own communities.
“People get robbed daily, our houses get broken into and our belongings that we work so hard for, stolen.
“Innocent people get killed daily; innocent little children get killed by stray bullets and the government is turning a blind eye.”
Nicolette Boonzaaier wrote that life on the Cape Flats had become meaningless.
“We are living in times where our police fail us daily.
“A human right to be protected denied.”
