Family of killed mom says police have lost war against gun violence in Westbury
A Westbury family, grieving the death of a 33-year-old mother who was shot and killed at her home, said police have lost the battle of rooting out gun violence in the area.
Lesley-Ann Pauls shared a packet of biscuits with her two children in bed when unknown men shot her, alongside her three-year-old child, who is recovering in hospital.
In March, Minister of Police Bheki Cele deployed dozens of specialized police forces to parade the streets of the Johannesburg West community for three months.
Pauls’s family told the publication that Cele’s efforts to address gang-related crimes in Westbury aren’t bringing the desired outcomes.
The mother of four had been complaining about gangs in Westbury, not knowing she’d suffer the same fate as hundreds of other community members who were brutally murdered.
Her mother said it was even more worrying that the people pulling the trigger were seemingly young people.
“It’s the small boys that these gangs use to shoot people – children of twelve and thirteen. The gangsters send children to go shoot.
“Nobody even wants to walk around in Westbury, the way they’re scared. Sometimes when they fight, the small children run in the street with guns.”
She said her family has given up on police, as victims of gang shooting in Westbury barely ever receive justice.
The victim’s sister, Bronwin Louw was one of the first people to arrive at her sister’s home moments after she was murdered, and described what she saw when she got there.
“When they took her from the bed, they put her in a body bag and then they told us to come to view her as a family and it wasn’t a good scene.”
She told the publication that while she wants justice for her sister, she doubts the perpetrators will be found.
“I want justice to be served, I want them [perpetrators] to go to jail. These gangsters and shooting, I just pray to God that it must end.
She also expressed her lack of faith in police in the area.
-EWN
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