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Daniel Nemukuyu Investigations and Special Reports Editor

As police pursued a speeding white Mazda BT50 truck carrying a gang of robbers down Glenara Avenue South in Eastlea, Harare, movie-style gunfire exchange, staff at Pro-Auto Styling Centre heard gunshots, then saw the Mazda turn into their premises through a wide-open gate and ramming into a parked Toyota Hilux.

The staff scampered for cover, locking themselves in a tiny sales office.

In no time, police detectives arrived and in the shoot-out two robbers were shot dead.

It later turned out to them that the gang had exchanged gunfire with the police before the high-speed chase.

Five armed robbers were killed while three others survived and were arrested in last Thursday’s shoot-out.

Two of them have since appeared in court and were remanded in custody to April 6.

A mechanic at Pro-Auto Styling, Mr Otto Masiiwa, said the robbers took advantage of the open gate to drive in.

“We first heard gunshots from the direction of Clyde Road shops before the Mazda suddenly got into our premises, hitting a client’s Toyota Hilux we were working on. We all scampered for cover and locked ourselves up in the sales office,” he said.

“We noticed another vehicle carrying detectives and uniformed officers passing by, at high speed and it made a U-turn and entered our premises.”

The driver of the Mazda BT50, according to Mr Masiiwa, was the first to jump out of the vehicle and scaled the pre-cast wall into a neighbour’s yard.

He was armed with two guns. “After some 10 minutes, a coloured guy came out armed but was shot in the arms and legs before falling down.

“The other one was shot dead as we watched while he was now on top of the pre-cast wall. It appeared they had run out of bullets,” said Mr Masiiwa.

Mr Lawrence Nyamutambo, another Pro-Auto Styling employee, said: “It was my first time to see someone being shot. Surprisingly, the robber did not even scream.

“He later pleaded with the officers not to kill him, saying he had a family to look after. He was then arrested. He sustained injuries on the hands and legs,” said Mr Nyamutambo.

The Herald established that the Mazda BT50 driver jumped into several homes with the police in hot pursuit.

He reached 327 Samora Machel where he stained the walls with his blood.

A caretaker at the house, Mr Shepherd Chitawo, narrated how he came face-to-face with a robber.

“I was working in the garden when I saw a man who was bleeding jumping into the yard. He had no shirt.

“He was bleeding and limping. I rushed to call my employer, who panicked and refused to come out. I watched him limping to the gate where he unsuccessfully tried to open it before scaling the pre-cast wall. But on top, he noticed that the next premises belonged to a security company, Modern Security.

“Seeing armed guards on the premises, he decided to throw himself into the access road along Samora Machel Avenue,” he said.

He desperately tried to hitch-hike into town, without success. He even unsuccessfully tried to rob a female motorist of her car along Samora Machel Avenue,” said Mr Chitawo.

Police later arrested him on the centre island along Samora Machel Avenue.