Two 16-year-old boys were shot dead in Newclare, Johannesburg, while a third young man and two other people were injured.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said information at this point suggests that somebody fired shots at three young men who were walking near the corner of Hamilton and Polack streets on Thursday afternoon.
Polack Street runs between Newclare and Westbury, an area already under the spotlight over fatal shootings in January.
One of the boys was killed in the first volley of Thursday’s shooting.
The two other youths ran into a business while still being shot at, but a second youth was killed.
“The business owner and his relative also sustained injuries from the shooting whereupon the three injured victims were then rushed to a nearby hospital for medical attention,” said Peters.
ER24 spokesperson Russel Meiring said ER24 paramedics and the City of Johannesburg’s Emergency Management Services arrived on the scene at 16:30, but the two teens were declared dead at the scene.
Medics treated the injured survivors of the shooting with advanced life support and then took them to hospital.