South Africa’s death toll from weekend mass shootings rises to 28 after another victim dies

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African authorities on Monday raised the combined death toll from two mass shootings over the weekend to 28, after another victim from one of the attacks died in hospital.

South Africa has struggled with violent crime for years, but the shootings on Saturday night have shocked a country used to some of the highest homicide rates in the world.

The victim who died was from the first attack, in the Wedela township near Johannesburg, where 17 people died on Saturday night and several others were wounded, police said. Armed with AK-47 rifles, gunmen stormed a tavern and opened fire first at patrons outside the bar before moving inside and continuing to shoot.

The gunmen searched some of the patrons and took their mobile phones before escaping in two vehicles. Two cars were set on fire outside the bar during the shooting.

“One more victim has died in hospital, bringing the total number of deceased to 18,” the police statement on Monday said.

About four hours later on Saturday night, 10 people were killed and 11 wounded in a shooting at a store linked to what police described as an entertainment venue in Lwandle township, near Cape Town, South Africa’s second biggest city. Police said they were searching for multiple suspects, though they didn’t give an exact number.

Of the dead in Wedela, two were South Africans and two were Lesotho nationals. The four are the only fatalities whose identities have been confirmed so far.

“All the injured victims in hospital have been identified,” the police said, adding that five were “shot in the upper body and are critically wounded, while the others are in a stable condition.”

A team of detectives and members of the South African Defence Force are investigating. No arrests have been made so far.