Five suspects have been arrested in connection with the mass killing in KwaNobuhle, Eastern Cape on Tuesday night.
According to reports, three armed men went into a house in Mdledle Street and opened fire, leaving six people dead and four wounded.
The wounded are receiving medical care in the hospital.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson, Priscilla Naidu, said the incident is suspected to be drug-related.
“The suspects, aged between 21 and 34 years old, were arrested in KwaNobuhle and Arcadia in Bethelsdorp, respectively. They are detained on charges of six counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder,” said Naidu.
Eastern Cape police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nomthetheleli Mene condemned the killing and called on members of the community to assist police to trace the culprits.
In February, Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane criticised the “vicious and senseless mass killings targeting the elderly and the youth in the province”.
He was remarking following the murder of 10 people by unidentified gunmen in two separate incidents in Thantseka and Qunu villages near Mthatha.
“It is heartbreaking to hear that elderly women, children and heads of households lose their lives in the most brutal way in our province,” Mabuyane said at the time.
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