Two people shot dead outside the offices of a long-haul bus company. And an innocent bystander fatally wounded as he left a nearby supermarket.
Two of the people who died, a 36-year-old man and 21-year-old woman, had just bought tickets for a trip to Gauteng and were walking out of the bus company’s offices in Perridgevale when they were mowed down.
The third person walked straight into the mayhem and was hit by stray bullets.
Three people just going about their business on a Friday afternoon — dead.
A shopper who was inside the store when the shooting occurred described the pandemonium as the panicked shoppers scrambled for cover while the bullets flew around outside.
It had been absolute chaos inside, he said.
There were probably people of all ages inside — grandparents, parents and children — and the scale of their terror would have been off the charts.
Just imagine if you had been inside with your young children when you suddenly heard gunfire outside.
Or if you were with your elderly parents, helping them with their shopping.
No, if you weren’t there or haven’t experienced something similar, you simply can’t.
But the nightmare will live forever in the minds of those who were there.
Such a scenario would be unthinkable in most countries — but not here, where violence is endemic.
Too often, innocents are caught in the crossfire of gang warfare or the robberies that occur all too frequently in shopping centres or busy areas in SA.
The sheer horror of such a brazen daylight attack in the city centre and the thought that someone innocently popping out to buy something at a supermarket might not make it back alive should send shivers down all our spines.
The motive for the attack is unknown at this stage, but it was definitely targeted at the couple exiting the ticket office, police say.
It could have been a revenge attack by gangsters or a group avenging some perceived slight or offence against them.
Whatever the reason, it is a huge concern.
It is like the Wild West out in the streets of SA and a sad day, indeed, when buying tickets for a planned out-of-town excursion or popping out to the supermarket for a few items takes such a deadly turn.
HeraldLIVE