Unknown gunmen shot dead seven members of the same family, including three children, in an execution-style killing at their home in rural South Africa, police said Thursday.
A 5-year-old boy was among those killed in the shooting at a home in eastern KwaZulu-Natal province late Wednesday, police said. The oldest victim was a woman in her 55s, they said.
The motive for the attack in the Highflats area, about 50 miles northwest of the coastal city of Durban, was not yet known.
“We are convinced as police officers that it was an execution. It was a planned murder,” provincial police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi told reporters outside the house.
Some of the victims appeared to have been shot in the head while lying on the floor, he said. “There was a total of about 25 bullets used.”
Gunmen burst into the house as the family was watching television, officials said. They got a family member, who was outside the house, to knock on the door and then opened fire when it was opened, police said.
“The police should never rest until the person or persons behind the mass shooting have been arrested.” Mkhwanazi saidwho urged anyone with information to contact police.
South Africa has one of the world’s highest murders per capita in peacetime. Nearly 6,200 people were murdered in the country between April and June, according to police figures released in August.
Every day, 34 people are killed by guns in South Africa, according to Gun-free South Africaa non-profit organization that advocates for the reduction of gun violence.
In April, soccer star Luke Fleurs was shot while filling up his car at a gas station in South Africa. Six suspects were arrested.
Last year, 10 members of the same family – including a 13-year-old – were killed in a mass shooting at their home in South Africa.