She didn’t have threats on her life, husband of Metrobus shooting victim

The husband of a 40-year-old bank employee who was killed on Wednesday while boarding a Metrobus in Fleurhof, Roodepoort, says there had been no known threats to her life in the past.

“It was only on Friday when she thought someone tried to rob her outside the gate. She then asked the lady who was walking with her to accompany her inside the yard,” the man, who asked not to be named, said.

“All I know is what I heard from people [about her death]. It is tough. I am just leaning on my brothers and family for strength.”

An eyewitness to the bus shooting revealed how the woman tripped and fell as she tried to run before she was gunned down. She was an administrator at Nedbank’s vehicle finance department, said her husband. 

The eyewitness said the man who shot her had boarded the bus earlier, before shooting her twice while she lay on the ground. The eyewitness said he and two women, including the deceased, were waiting for the bus when the shooting occurred just before 6am. As they were about to board the bus, a man got off.

“When he got off, he did not speak to anyone or ask anything. He just started shooting. I was the last one as I was still on the ground as the women started boarding the bus. “They tried to get back [out of the bus]. The women ran around the bus screaming, then I heard the shot. I was also running, seeking safety. I didn’t see where he [shooter]ended up. “It was strange for someone to get off here because this is where people board the bus.”

The woman’s neighbours described her as “quiet and polite”. “She was a down-to-earth woman. She loved laughing and interacting with people. What happened to her was shocking. We are still shocked,” said a neighbour. A security guard at Joscho flats close to where the shooting took place told Sowetan she was at the guard house when she heard gunshots. Metrobus acting managing director Bongani Radebe said one of their bus operators also witnessed the shooting.

“The shooter was in the bus, a seat away from where the bus operator sits. He cocked a gun and fired two shots. There were three passengers about to board the bus, two women and one man. “The deceased and the other woman ran away around the bus. They fell and one of them was shot twice.

She was certified dead at the scene,” Radebe said. Johannesburg district police commissioner Maj-Gen Max Masha said: “We can confirm this is not transport related. It looks like a hit because this passenger was not connected to the bus company. She was a passenger going to wherever she was going.” Police believe she was the g un man’s sole only target. “The suspect seemed to know she boarded the bus there.

He shot only her and was not interested in other people, only this lady,” said Masha.

Transport MMC Kenny Kunene said there were about15 passengers on the bus. He said they suspected the gunman had been scouting her movements and checking her routine before the shoo ting. “We suspect it started last week on Friday, or maybe earlier, and he decided to do the hit today [yesterday],” he said. The shooter fled the scene in a white Volkswagen Polo sedan without licence plates. A manhunt has been launched for the killer.