News24 reports that a suspected criminal was killed and a police officer critically injured when an ambulance was ambushed in Gugulethu, Western Cape Emergency Medical Services (EMS) said on Thursday.  

Because the Western Cape health department has declared the area a “red zone”, due to the high crime rate, the ambulance responded to a call received at 22:10 with a police escort.  When the officers and the ambulance arrived, five men approached the police and demanded their guns.  A shoot-out ensued, during which a 30-year-old man was killed and a police officer wounded.  The officer was taken to a local hospital.  The alleged patient was never found and it is believed the call was part of a planned ambush.

• Read this report by James de Villiers in full at News24

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