A 9-year-old girl was reportedly shot and killed while playing with a police officer’s gun in Mbekweni on Friday last week.
According to IOL, the officer had just arrived home from work when he took off his service pistol and put it on the sofa to fetch water.
The 9-year-old girl had been invited together with her two friends, to play at the officer’s house.
The three children got hold of the pistol and started arguing over it.
Murder case
When the officer tried to intervene, a shot went off, and the victim was shot in the face, the report said.
Police spokesperson FC Van Wyk said a murder case was registered for investigation following the incident.
Mail & Guardian reported early this year that children growing up in the Cape Flats faced injury, disability, orphanhood, imprisonment, and loss of life due to acts of violence.
The report said that a survey conducted by the Canon Collins Educational and Legal Assistance Trust found that about 54% of boys and girls between 11 and 13 years of age in Hanover Park admitted to having carried a knife or a gun in their lives.
Picture: Cape Town etc gallery