Management of the Poppy’s restaurant in Melville, Johannesburg, where two people were shot and killed and six others wounded in the early hours of New Year’s Day, has sent its condolences to the bereaved families.
An unknown suspect opened fire on a group of people who were at the restaurant in a drive-by shooting.
A night vigil was held on Thursday evening at the scene of the incident.
“On behalf of Poppy’s we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for this gesture. To the families who have lost their loved ones, we pass our sincere condolences to you and we hope that during this time you will find peace in God,” says restaurant’s spokesperson Kay Williams.
Emmanuel Davel, one of the initiators of the night vigil and an eyewitness to the incident, says he felt helpless after the attack.
“I was one of the witnesses. I’m a psychologist. So as my colleague and I, both tried to assist where we could, but unfortunately, they passed. I work in trauma every day and for me witnessing a traumatic event like this even left me in shock. When I was looking at social media yesterday (Wednesday) there was a lot of negativity. And my feeling was that we needed to do something. We needed the community to come together and to heal this wound.”
Carmen Adams-Huffman is a patron of the restaurant and knows the owner.
“… I was a friend with the owner and I was so relieved, but I was immediately overtaken by grief when I heard about all the other lives that had been taken. The people that have been injured and seriously injured. Their lives will never be the same.”
Police are following a number of leads regarding the incident. They are also calling on members of the public who have information to come forward.
