A young man who survived a deadly gang shooting in Westbury has spoken out about the heartbreaking moment his friend died protecting him.
Carl Mentor still carries a bullet lodged beneath his ear a constant reminder of the chaos that unfolded when gunmen opened fire on a group of teenagers on Tuesday. Two young lives were lost, including 18-year-old Teagan Ruiters, who Carl says sacrificed himself to save him.
Speaking outside the house where the shooting took place, Carl’s voice trembled as he recounted the horror.
“We were sitting on the stoep (porch) with my friends when about five guys came and started shooting at us,” he said.
“My friend tried to protect me he laid over me while they were shooting. They hit him in the back. He died right there.”
Carl’s wounds are still visible bruises on his head, the bullet still lodged under his ear but his emotional scars run deeper. He insists that neither he nor his friends were part of any gang.
“We don’t go to school anymore, but we are not gangsters,” he said.
“They’ve targeted us before. The first time they shot my neighbour in the leg. This time, we had nowhere to run.”
As the community mourns, fear has spread among residents. The grandmother of one of the slain teenagers says she has received death threats from alleged gang members on social media.
“I’m so traumatised,” she said. “I didn’t expect this. Now they’re even threatening me on Facebook.”
She says the community knows who the shooters are young men from the area who continue to terrorise residents.
“They call our boys ‘Farados,’ but they’re just kids who hang out together, smoking hookah or gambling. I’ve never seen them with guns,” she said.
“It’s unfair they are being hunted.”
National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola has urged parents to speak out and help identify those involved in gang activities.
He said the Anti-Gang Unit has been deployed to several hotspots, including Westbury, Eldorado Park, and Langlaagte.
“We are on the heels of the suspects,” Masemola said. “So far, the Anti-Gang Unit has arrested 176 suspects for crimes including murder, possession of unlicensed firearms, and drug-related offences.”
For now, four survivors remain in hospital.
