It has emerged that church leaders were among the seven suspects who were gunned down by police in Engcobo in Eastern Cape Friday night.
The Mancoba Seven Angels Church Ministry premises has been declared a crime scene after the suspects were killed during a gun battle.
More than 10 suspects have been arrested.
The Hawks say investigations are continuing after gunmen stormed the Engcobo police station in the early hours of Wednesday morning and opened fire indiscriminately, killing five police officers and a retired soldier.
The suspects were found on Friday night hiding at the church.
“Seven suspects were killed in a shootout with police officers – in a gun battle that took about 30 minutes. We are told that police officers got a hint that people who were involved in relation to the incident where five police officers were killed were in the premises of this church and when they came and tried to make arrests there was a gun battle between the two. One police officer was injured. We can also confirm that some of the members of the leadership of the church are among the seven suspects that were gunned down in the early hours of today.”
