Unnamed Afrikaner student executed at Viva Youth College for mentally-troubled youths, Timsrand smallholding Centurion – nothing robbed
*WHY would a black gunman scale an electrified fence at very high risk to himself, shoot dead an unarmed student and then rush off without stealing anything at all?
VIVA YOUTH COLLEGE 2010-10-18 Pretoria – A 22-year-old student was shot dead at Viva Youth College at Timsrand, by an adult man who walked up to the unarmed student in a bathroom of one of the college’s cottages and then ran away on Friday, Oct 15 2010. http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Cops-hunt-for-students-killer-20101018
“I just froze. I could not do anything,” said one of his visibly shaken friends, a 19-year-old Afrikaner student as he recalled how the gunman shot dead his friend, “DB”, 22, on Friday night and then ran away from Viva Youth College. The college, in Timsrand smallholding - bordering Midrand, Centurion and Diepsloot, is surrounded by electric and barbed wire fencing. It is a centre for teenagers and young adults diagnosed with neuro-biochemical disorders including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
* The shooting comes two months after a homeowner on a neighbouring smallholding was shot in the shoulder during a house robbery.
The youths were playing computer games and another friend was in a cottage on the grounds when the black gunman charged into the lounge. Demanding money and cellphones the killer pulled out a gun and opened fire on DB at point blank range as he raised his hands in surrender. Firing a single shot, the gunman, who has been described as “a tall well-built black man”, turned around and walked out of the cottage empty handed, leaving DB’s friends desperately trying to save his life. “I was so scared. I did not know what was happening. It happened so fast. The gun went ‘bang’. It was so loud I went deaf,” said the teenager. The two survivors tried in vain to stop DB, who was enrolled in the college five weeks ago, from bleeding to death. “He didn’t say anything. You could see the blood and we pushed down on the wound, but there was nothing we could do. I left my friends and ran for help,” he said.
Department of Health has not paid operational costs – CCTV not yet installed:
Terrified, the teenager, who described the attack as “stupid”, ran back to the college’s main house where he raised the alarm. Despite responding within minutes of the shooting, police say they have little information to go on to try to track down the gunman. The lack of information, according to the centre’s founder and director, Paola MacQueen, has been compounded by the fact that a CCTV security camera system, which could have given police further vital information to find the killer, has not yet been installed.
* “Due to the Department of Health failing for the past six months to pay our operational costs, as it usually does, we have had to divert money that would have been used to pay for the CCTV system to cover those same operational costs,” Ms MacQueen said. “While the CCTV cameras might not have deterred the gunman, it definitely would have given police vital clues as to who this man is,” she said.
The gunman gained access to the property by scaling an electricity pole next to the electrified fence and then jumping over the fence with a cable. MacQueen said the killing had left the college’s staff and students in shock. “In the nine years that we have been in existence nothing like this has ever happened. “This random act is a complete tragedy. We are afraid, especially the students,” she said.
Describing DB’s friends as brave, MacQueen said they had done everything in their power to try to save their friend. “They did not panic. They kept their heads and were cool and calm throughout the entire incident. While one of the boys tried to resuscitate DB the other ran to the staff and raised the alarm. Their actions are testament to the type of person DB was. He was absolutely stunning and was loved by all,” she said. MacQueen declined to provide information on DB’s family citing the facility’s and Health Department’s confidentiality regulations.
HOWEVER – the college recently featured on the Carte Blanche TV programme “cannabis and schizophrenia” – during which some of the students were interviewed by name…Police spokesman, Warrant Officer Louis de Bruyn, said no arrests had been made. He appealed to anyone with information on the gunman to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111. http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Cops-hunt-for-students-killer-20101018
* college pictures: http://www.vivacollege.co.za/gallery.html
* The college recently featured on the Afrikaans TV documentary programme : Cannabis and Schizophrenia’ by Carte Blanche – which identified the interviewed students by name… http://beta.mnet.co.za/carteblanche/Article.aspx?Id=4122&ShowId=1
Viva Youth College white student shot dead PRetoria News
Pretoria News: “ Youth with mental disorder shot while hands up in surrender, thug flees with nothing…”
http://www.pretorianews.co.za/?fSectionId=3534&fArticleId=1.687135&fFeed=region_51
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