Police bring in more resources to track gang that killed 5-year-old boy in Soshanguve hijacking
Five-year-old Ditebogo Junior Phalane was gunned down outside his home in Soshanguve on Friday evening during a botched hijacking.
Police Minister Bheki Cele visited the family of five-year-old Ditebogo Junior Phalane in Soshanguve on 14 May 2024 after the little boy was shot and killed in a botched hijacking on 10 May 2024. Picture: @LirandzuThemba/X
JOHANNESBURG - Police have allocated additional resources to the team tasked with tracking down the gang responsible for the murder of Ditebogo Junior Phalane.
The five-year-old was gunned down outside his home in Soshanguve on Friday evening during a botched hijacking.
Police top brass visited the Phalane family on Tuesday morning.
Police management has arrived at the home of 5-year-old Ditebogo Junior Phalane in Soshanguve. The toddler was shot dead during a botched hijacking on Friday evening after gunmen hijacked his father outside their home in Block UU. OS pic.twitter.com/PoBxlRgyjw
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) May 14, 2024
Five-year-old Ditebogo Phalane's final moments turned from extreme joy to fear and pain in a matter of seconds.
The young boy ran outside to greet his father on Friday evening, only to be confronted by an armed gang who were in the process of hijacking his father.
Police Minister Bheki Cele visited the Phalane family on Tuesday morning to express his condolences.
"He had his hands up for the joy of meeting his father..." Cele says the final moments of 5-year-old #DitebogoPhalane turned from joy into fear and pain. The toddler ran to welcome his father home in Soshanguve on Friday night only to be met by gunmen during a hijacking. pic.twitter.com/aFN10X62Yu
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) May 14, 2024
"We are told that he had his hands up with the joy of greeting his father and then you move from extreme joy to extreme pain at the same time."
Cele said that police were using technology to assist in apprehending those responsible for the senseless killing.
"We have roped in IT on the matter," the minister said.
Police are urging community members to come forward with any information that may lead to the arrest of those responsible for the five-year-old's murder.