14 dead in bar shooting in Soweto, South African police say

Police say a mass shooting at a tavern in Johannesburg’s Soweto township left 14 people dead and three others in critical condition.

Police said they were investigating reports that a group of men arrived in a minibus taxi and opened fire on some of the bar patrons on Saturday night. On Sunday morning, police were removing the bodies of the deceased and investigating what led to the mass shooting.

The three seriously injured and one other injured person were taken to Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.

The number of rounds found at the scene indicates it was a group of people who fired at the patrons, said Gauteng Provincial Police Commissioner Lt. Gen. Elias Mawela.

« Primary investigation suggests that these people were enjoying themselves here, in a licensed tavern operating during good hours, » Mawela told The Associated Press.

« All of a sudden they heard gunshots meaning people tried to run out of the tavern. We don’t have full details at this time on the motive and why they were targeting these people, » he said. .

« You can see that a high caliber gun was used and it was firing randomly. You can see that each of these people was struggling to get out of the tavern, » Mawela told The Associated Press. .

The Soweto bar shooting comes two weeks after 21 teenagers were found dead in a tavern in the city of East London. The cause of those deaths has yet to be announced by authorities, but the teens were not shot or crushed in a stampede, officials said.